


Marvel Rising: Changing Tide

by blue_avocado



Category: Marvel (Comics), Marvel Rising: Secret Warriors (2018), Runaways (Comics), Secret Warriors
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Comedy, Coming of Age, Dimension Travel, Drama, F/F, F/M, First Kiss, Gen, Heroes to Villains, Hurt/Comfort, Minor Character Death, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, References to Depression, Teen Romance, Teenage Drama, Teenagers, Time Travel, friendships, relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-25
Updated: 2020-02-25
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:27:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 23,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22402552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blue_avocado/pseuds/blue_avocado
Summary: Two time travelers from another dimension attempt to warn the Secret Warriors that one of their own becomes a supervillain, and successfully destroyed their world. What are they to do with this information, and will this warning be enough to prevent their own world from succumbing to a grim fate?
Relationships: America Chavez/Original Female Character, Dante Pertuz/Gwen Stacy, Dante Pertuz/Kamala Khan, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added, Xiaoyi Chen/Jaycen
Kudos: 8





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I found that there were very little fanfics for Marvel Rising, so I decided to rectify that, and create my own. I've always been a sucker for time/dimension travel, and wanted to try writing my own. 
> 
> For this story, some healthy knowledge of the 616 Marvel Universe, particularly of Runaways and Avengers/Young Avengers/Champions would be helpful though not entirely necessary. Some mild MCU references are also thrown in here, mostly due to one character's appearance. 
> 
> I would also highly recommend having watched all of Marvel Rising's episodes prior to reading this, **especially** Initiation, Chasing Ghosts, and Playing with Fire. Episodes can be viewed, as of the date of this story's publication, on Youtube for free and also on Disney+.
> 
> More notes at the end. :)

\---

**Earth-TRN685.**

"Hang on! Stay with me!" the man cried out as he ran towards the alleyway between two brick buildings. Cradled in his arms was Ghost-Spider, currently lacking her mask. Behind him was his ally, keeping a vigilant watch on the setting around them. There was smoke everywhere, along with debris lightly raining from up above. A heavy, charred scent wafted through as the wind pushed onward. It was difficult to breathe, nearly impossible to see. The area before them appeared like something out of an apocalyptic set movie or TV show. Not the most comfortable or safe place to be lingering in. However, the pair of heroes had to be extra cautious, especially the one carrying their fatally injured comrade, whose life hung on by a thread. A man cloaked in a dark blue robe with white trimmings to his costume gently placed his wounded friend down on the ground, intending to check her over. In order to get a better look, he removed his domino mask, stuffing it into one of the several compartments in his utility belt. Now lacking the disguise, he was back to just being 'Kevin' to those around him. Sighing deeply, he braced himself for what he had to do next. Having to see his best friend, Gwen, in such a state; covered in blood, and her face quickly growing more pale, was beyond devastating. He then fished around for the mini first aid kit he kept handy in his pouch, though Gwen's hand lightly tapped his. Kevin's attention was back on her again. 

Tears filled Gwen's eyes. "Why...?" 

"I'm trying to help you, Gwen. Just give me a--"

Her weakened voice cut him off. "I...thought...he was our...friend... Ngh..." 

Gesturing with his hands, he desperately tried to calm her down. "Shh. Don't think about that right now. Everything's going to be okay."

"I...thought he...loved me, Kevin..."

"Gwen, please. Stop talking." Kevin began to rummage for the medical supplies again, until Gwen's hand outright grabbed his wrist. 

Swallowing hard, she locked eyes with him. "Don't...let...him...get you, too..." 

"Gwen!"

"Stop...him..." she said in a voice above a whisper before she released her grip on him, her arm falling limply to the ground as the rest of her body gave out. 

There was only silence for a few moments. Kevin remained in position, shocked by what he just witnessed. The heroine beside him crouched over Gwen, took her long brown glove off, then placing her index and middle fingers upon Gwen's neck to feel for a pulse. Unfortunately, there was none. Removing her own golden mask, clad with goggles, Gertrude glanced over at Kevin. "She's gone."

He wanted to sob or scream or do something to release the agony he was feeling inside. Instead he ran his hand along his face, the fatigue beginning to overtake him. "...What are we supposed to do now?"

Gert stood up again, putting her mask back on, and using the device installed in it to scan the vicinity for any intruders. Luckily, it appeared they were still alone. She turned her attention back to him, her boots scraping against the pavement as her body pivoted. Times like these, she wished she hadn't gone with a steampunk motif as the wardrobe she had chosen to wear as a superhero were pretty noisy and cramped. But, of course, the tech had its perks as well. Folding her arms, she wondered if she should try to console him somehow. The guy had just lost his best friend, and was likely suffering over it. Unfortunately, she sucked at sincerity, and this was certainly no time for her trademark snark. So she settled on trying to answer his question. "Let's re-group at headquarters."

"Right... Call Cho, and tell him we're on our way back...and...tell him we lost Ghost-Spider..." 

\---

The Avengers HQ appeared to have some damage all over the sides of its building from a previous skirmish with their main foe and his underlings. Fortunately, at least, the interior was relatively normal. Gert and Kevin managed to bypass any danger that lurked about, and made it back to their destination safely. Kevin once again carried Gwen, unable to bare leaving her back where she died. Once they went inside, they made their way up to the lab where their fellow Avenger, Amadeus Cho, worked at. As soon as the door slid open, Kevin went over to one of the tables, and laid Gwen's body down. Then he collapsed on the floor, partly from exhaustion, and partly from despair. Gert looked around until she spotted Amadeus heading toward them. 

"I'm not usually very good at this..." Amadeus began, his confidence wavering for a change. "...But I am sorry for your loss."

Kevin wasn't phased by the condolence, and he looked irritated. "What's the plan? How do we stop that monster?"

"Well, I am better at **plotting** than I am at **grief counseling**." He motioned at Kevin and Gert to follow him, and he quickly walked toward the corridor. 

After Gert helped him up, she and Kevin followed. Upon entering the lab, they were about to converse with Amadeus, but were interrupted when another hero came onto the scene. Said hero removed her iron helmet, her wide eyes set on the others. "I...I couldn't find anybody else... I...I think Riri is gone... My mom and dad..." Her voice trailed off as she tried to choke back tears.

"I'm sorry, Morgan." Kevin said delicately, putting a hand on the shoulder of the young girl. "Gwen...is gone, too."

"I think we might be all that's left. At least those of us still left on Earth." Gert sighed as she looked out the window at the wreckage outside. "I can't believe he's gotten so powerful, and so influential. We're no match against him."

Morgan Stark wiped her damp cheeks with the palm of her metal clad hand, attempting to keep it together like the adults around her seemed to be. "I think Riri and my dad must have some tech lying around that can blast him and his minions back to he--"

"I've looked into that already." Amadeus interjected quickly, preventing the incoming curse word from coming out of the young teen's mouth. "There isn't too much of use. We've tried a lot of what Iron Man and Iron Heart developed, and we've seen the results of that already."

"What did you want to show us before?" asked Kevin, growing impatient. 

"I'll get to the point. There is one hope, one that I've been researching for some time behind your back, Gert." 

"Huh?" Gert quirked an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Amadeus went over towards a control panel, pressing a button that soon opened the door to a private section in the back of the lab. The group went in after, awestruck at what they found inside. A large device that looked like a golden chair was set in the middle of a platform, the machine being one that was familiar to Gert, given that it belonged to her parents. "Look familiar?" Amadeus asked Gert with a small (and inappropriate) smirk.

"This is... How did you get your hands on my parents' time machine!?" The woman clenched her fists as she glared at the arrogant scientist. 

"There's really no time to explain the details." 

Morgan went over to it, admiring the mechanism as she did with many others. "This is really cool!"

Kevin, on the other hand, didn't care very much for anything other than getting back on track. "What are you suggesting? That we go back in time, and prevent this from happening?"

A more serious expression formed on Amadeus' face as he looked over at the 4-D Time Portico. "According to my calculations, this is less a traditional time machine now, and more of a trans-dimensional travel device. In essence, you can travel to the past or future of a different dimension. I've managed to make some configurations to locate a dimension that is similar to ours, and is headed toward being destroyed by an alternate counterpart to our current 'Big Bad' here."

"So...we can't use this thing to save our dimension?" 

"We can save theirs." Amadeus entered the coordinates into the pad on the keyboard, and the designation of another dimension popped up on the digital screen. "Because we're heroes, right?"

Gert glanced to the side, silently acknowledging his words. "Yeah. You're right."

"What about--" Before Kevin could finish his question, the entire foundation shook violently. 

Morgan ignited her suit's foot rockets to keep her from toppling over, and she floated inches from the floor. "What was that?"

"Likely uninvited guests." Amadeus then ran toward the control panel, typing in some important data. 

"It seems like you had this planned for some time." Gert said, another sudden tremor occuring right after.

"There's **really** no time to explain. That machine only seats two...so we can't all leave here. Some decisions need to be made, and fast." 

Kevin spoke through grit teeth. "This shouldn't be about **escaping** , Cho! It's about saving our home!" 

Some force was being used to try destroying the wall near them in the lab. Amadeus looked in the direction where the strikes were occuring, and noticed cracks forming along the side of the structure. There wasn't much time left, he concluded. Thus he began to work much faster. "Not sure if that's an option here, man."

"My parents never really gave me 'driving' lessons for this thing." Gert said, frowning. "So it's not like I can pilot it, in case anyone was wondering."

"I figured, which is why I'm going to set it on auto-pilot. Since you seem so gung-ho about protecting this world, Kevin, I recommend Gert and Morgan go and try preventing this from happening in another Earth."

"Right. I'll stay behind." replied Kevin with a nod. 

Morgan looked anxiously between the three Avengers. "What? No! There has to be another way, where we can all be okay!"

Before anyone could say anything else, the wall finally broke apart. On the other side of the gaping hole, there was a shadowy figure that was hovering, along with several others who were straggling behind him. The group knew who the leader was, their current arch nemesis. Knowing that their time was cut short even further, Amadeus finished what he was working on, and set the timer for the machine to depart to its destination in three minutes. Being an expert of remaining cool under pressure nowadays, Amadeus walked away from the monitor he had been behind, and raised his hands in mock defeat. "You could've knocked first. Just sayin'."

A low chuckle came from the villain as he moved closer toward the heroes. "You know me, I'm prone to blowing things up."

Kevin took a step forward. "You should leave here while you still can, monster."

"That's not a very clever comeback, Kev. Amadeus and Gert are able to come up with snarky one-liners on the fly, and that at least gives their pathetic lives **some** worth."

"Snarky one-liners aren't all we've got to offer." Gert quickly pulled her gun out of its holster, firing a few shots at the man. 

Unfortunately, the bullets failed to do any damage to him. He had created an armor made of what appeared to be intense flames. Smirking, he casually shook the melted slugs off his chest. "You should know better than to use those against me, _Gertie_."

"Oh, I know. Just trying to distract you." 

During the brief time that the enemy was focused on Gert and her weapon, Amadeus quickly transformed into his Hulk state. He immediately grabbed the supervillain, keeping a firm grip on him even when his foe began to raise his body temperature in an attempt to burn him. Some of the villain's followers then began to attack, most of them focusing their efforts on the green creature, trying futilely to get him to release their leader. Amadeus watched out of the corner of his eye as Kevin shot ice blasts, Gert took aim at some thugs, and Morgan, having put her helmet back on, blasted lasers from her gauntlets at the ones attacking them. "There's only two or so minutes left until the time machine departs!"

"Got it!" exclaimed Gert as she slowly began to make her way towards it. 

"Time machine, huh? You think I'm going to make it _that_ easy for you?" The villain smirked as he finally became hot enough to force Amadeus into releasing him. Once that was done, he extended his arm out, and intense flames erupted from his gloved palms towards Gert.

Kevin saw what was going on, attempting to shoot a flurry in return. His ice-based attack wasn't powerful enough, and Gert was still in danger of being incinerated. With some swift thinking, Morgan launched herself forward, managing to block the fire from reaching her comrade. With a loud groan, the iron clad teen fell to the ground. "Uhn..."

"Morgan!" Gert called out, about to run to her aid.

"No... Gert... Just...go...please..." 

Enraged at the fall of the young heroine, Kevin turned to glare at the villain. "You're going down, Dante!"

Dante laughed, following it up with a cocky smirk. "Go ahead, and try. My fire will always melt your ice."

Just as Kevin was about to launch an icy assault against him, Amadeus blocked one of Dante's followers from clubbing the back of Kevin's head. "Change of plans. You need to go with Gert, Kevin! **Now**!"

"No way! I'm not leav--" Before he could finish the sentence, Amadeus' large green hand grabbed Kevin by the collar of his costume, then tossed him towards the time machine wherein he landed in a heap near it. "Ugh!"

Amadeus then tried to keep the other enemies at bay as best as he could, using his body as a shield. "Get moving! I'll try my best to fend them off!"

Gert stepped into the portico, then taking a hold of Kevin, and forcing him in. "WHAT ABOUT YOU? AND MORGAN!?"

"Save that world from suffering this fate." stated Amadeus, purposefully dodging her question. 

Kevin began to struggle against Gert's grasp, attempting to return to the fray. "LET ME GO!"

Morgan then began to shake as she tried to get back up to join the fight again herself. "...T-take...care..."

The time machine departed soon after in a flash of light. Dante didn't seem phased or worried by this. In fact, he seemed to relish over what the current status quo was. "And then there were two."

Amadeus frowned as he looked on at Dante, and the current crowd of minions he had. Morgan managed to get on her feet again, though was obviously injured, and panted heavily as she tried to stand. Both heroes thought grimly about how the odds were against them. However, they were also determined to not go down without a fight. 

Dante couldn't help but be amused by their resolute expressions, and he smirked. "Let's see how long you two last." He made a tall, concentrated ring of fire around the laboratory which, in essence, trapped them all in the location. This was going to be their final showdown. 

\---

**Earth-TRN684.**

One moment, they were facing off against Dante and his legion. Now they were in the middle of a park in the city. On-lookers stopped what they were doing, gawking at the time machine and its occupants that had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Gert and Kevin remained in position for several moments, still shocked that they had left their dimension for this one, and their surroundings were completely different than what they had been used to for months in their homeworld. After said shock wore off, Kevin pushed Gert away from him. Although he had no idea of what he wanted to do or where he wanted to go, he still stormed out of the machine.

"Kevin! Wait!" Gert called out as she went after him. 

He turned to scowl at her. "Leave me alone, Gert."

"You can't just go off on your own!"

"I didn't even want to go on this little mission! I wanted to--"

"What? Get revenge? Because I really don't think you were going to get your wish." She took a deep breath, feeling sympathy for him sinking in. 

Kevin clenched his jaw, angry over her words, even though he knew she was right. "It doesn't matter! What about Amadeus and Morgan?!"

"...We need to stop what happened to our dimension from happening here... That's all we can do now." Gert said softly, placing her hand on her arm as she stared at the ground forlornly.

He closed his eyes, contemplating what she just told him. There wasn't much they could do back where they came from. Even if they somehow got the machine to work again, and took it back there... What more could they do? They weren't able to stop Dante before, what difference would they make now? At least here, maybe he could save Gwen and the others before any sort of disaster befell them. Thus his new resolve was cemented. Glancing over at Gert, he nodded solemnly. " _When_ exactly did Amadeus send us in this dimension?" Kevin already knew they were in New York as he recognized the park they were currently situated in. 

"The screen read that this is December, around six years ago." 

"Why would he..." Kevin thought about it briefly before he had a realization. "...Of course he chose this date... That is, if this dimension really **is** practically the same as ours."

Gert tilted her head to the side, also placing a hand on her hip. "Yeeeah, I don't follow."

"I'll explain on the way."

"On the way to where exactly?"

Kevin gazed in the direction of the city as he spoke. "...Secret Warriors' headquarters."

His companion furrowed a brow, as she wasn't familiar with what he meant, though she trusted him enough to know this was probably where they needed to go. "Lead the way then."

\---

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I toyed around a lot with which established Marvel characters to use for this story. 
> 
> Morgan Stark is a fairly new addition to the Marvel lore, with only one incarnation as of now. So I threw her in here. I liked the idea of Tony and Pepper having a daughter, one that would eventually inherit the iron suit. 
> 
> Amadeus and Gert are just characters I liked in the comics, and thought they might add a lot of 'bite' to the group dynamic they were a part of. More on them in future chapters.
> 
> I really liked Kevin in Marvel Rising. Mostly because I like Max Mittelman, and his performance in the cartoon made Kevin really likable. I also happen to be a sucker for ice power capes! Obviously, that meant I **had** to write an entire story centered around this incredibly minor character who I've also seen people refer to as 'fake Peter Parker' (since he is a surrogate for Peter in this show). Well, I've got some interesting ideas for him for later chapters. I guess we'll see where this goes from here!


	2. 1

\---

It was a beautiful, sunny skied Saturday morning. This was usually the sort of day that Gwen liked to sleep in on, and catch up on much needed rest. However, she laid on her bed, staring up at the ceiling instead. Although she was tired from a night of webslinging and crime fighting, she mostly remained in bed due to feeling depressed. Gwen's birthday was coming up in a few days, and she was soon going to turn sixteen. A few months ago, she had been quite excited for her Sweet Sixteen, having made dozens of different plans on how she would celebrate. From a fancy catered party to just going out bowling with friends, she had envisioned many potential parties with...Kevin. He was there when she yammered on about what she wanted to do, how she wanted to get her driver's license, how excited she was that she was going to be another year closer to adulthood. But he wasn't there anymore. Kevin could never be there for whatever Sweet Sixteen she would have, or even be there to see her turn sixteen. Turning over in her bed, she shed a few tears onto her pillow as she felt herself get swallowed up in sorrow over his death.

A few knocks came from her door. "Gwen?"

Quickly wiping away the evidence she had been crying, she sat up in her bed. "Dad?"

George Stacy entered the bedroom, wearing a small smile. "Hey, sleepyhead. It's getting a bit late already, don't you think?"

"On a Saturday, it's never too late to stay in bed." Gwen feigned her own smile. "Besides, I wasn't really sleeping. I was thinking about birthday stuff." It was at least partly the truth, moreso than the outright lies she had been telling her dad for the last while.

He went over to his daughter's bedside, proceeding to ruffle her hair. "Did you finally decide what sort of party you'd like to do?"

Gwen laughed, enjoying seeing her dad's playful side for a change. "Well... Not yet. I guess I'm leaning toward doing something simple with my friends."

"How simple are we talking?"

"...Just hanging out, probably. I don't know if I want anything big." Not that she even wanted something small, if Kevin wasn't going to be around. Though she kept that last part to herself.

George frowned, his interrogation expertise indicating to him that something was off about Gwen's demeanor. "Are you sure about that?"

In turn, Gwen could tell that her dad was suspicious. "Yeah. Really, simpler is better."

Although he had a nagging feeling that she was hiding something, he decided not to pry in the end. "You **are** the birthday girl, after all. Okay, time to get some breakfast."

She threw the covers off, pulling her legs toward the edge of the bed as she groggily rubbed her eyes. "I could go for something hearty, so no granola bars."

"What did you have in mind?"

Just as she was about to answer that, they both heard someone at the front door. After exchanging a quick glance, they made their way down the stairs. George opened the door while Gwen stood close behind him. "Oh, Marlene. Good morning." He greeted the woman he saw. 

Gwen's eyes widened as she realized it was Kevin's mother. "Hey, how...uh, how are you?"

The woman tried to look pleasant, though the sadness she felt still seemed apparent. Her son's death had hit her hard, and she was having trouble dealing with it still. "Hello, George. Gwen. I'm...I'm still taking it day by day, to be honest."

"Yeah, that's understandable. Why don't you come in, and join us for some breakfast?" George offered, motioning for her to go inside.

She shook her head. "No, I just wanted to drop something by real quick."

"What is it?"

"I know your birthday is coming soon, Gwen. In case I don't see you then, I do wish you a Happy Birthday." Marlene, again, attempted to be cheerful, but it was obviously strained. 

Gwen nodded. "Thanks. I appreciate it."

"...You see, I was...going through some things in Kevin's room..." Marlene's eyes watered as she said that, and she began to dig around in her purse for the item she brought them. "...And I found this in one of the drawers of his nightstand..."

A thin box that was wrapped in cute, rainbow colored smiley face gift paper was handed to Gwen. Momentarily, she inspected it then looked back at Kevin's mom. "Is this--"

"I think it was a birthday present Kevin had picked for you, sweetheart." 

"He picked it out months ahead of my birthday?" asked Gwen, uncertain of how to feel about it.

Marlene wiped the tears now flowing down her cheeks. "I...remember he asked me for an advance on his allowance...because he found something he wanted to give you for your birthday..."

"Are you sure you don't want to come in, Marlene?" George appeared concerned and empathetic towards her. 

"No, I think I want to go." Then she turned to walk back to her car, only looking back once at the Stacys before unlocking the driver side door.

"Poor Marlene..." George said as he closed the door to their house. "Kevin's death hit her hard. She already lost her husband years ago, and now... I can't even imagine the pain she must be in."

As Gwen looked down at Kevin's present, she remembered the days leading up to his death. From the time that they both discovered his Inhuman powers to them deciding he would also become a superhero to their basic training to...the time she discovered his dead body after Sheath had killed him. A lot of the sorrow Gwen felt stemmed from guilt, guilt over not having stopped him from doing the 'superhero thing', and if only she had gotten to him just a _bit_ earlier than she did. Could she ever look at Kevin's present as anything other than a reminder of her failure? "I can." she muttered to herself.

\---

Only the ticking of the cat clock on the wall could be heard. 

There was an uncomfortable silence that permeated the living room of the Pertuz residence. Dante sat on the couch next to his sister, Gabriela. Mr. Pertuz glared at Dante briefly before looking back down at his hands on his knees as he remained seated across from his children. Mrs. Pertuz stood off to the side, biting her bottom lip as she anxiously awaited a confrontation to occur. None of them knew who should start speaking or what to do, thus they remained stationary. 

Since none of her family were going bother making the first move, Gabi decided to take initiative. "Hey, so...the weather's been pretty nice lately. Not too cold yet." It was all she could think of saying that wouldn't instigate a fight. 

"With Dante around, I'm sure things are going to remain very **heated** for a long time." Mr. Pertuz spat bitterly.

"Papi, that was **really** uncalled for." Dante folded his arms, looking back at his sister. 

"He's right." Gabi added, looking upset. "I thought this was a good opportunity for us to sit down and--"

"Who said I wanted to sit down? Who said that I was ready for this?!" shouted Mr. Pertuz.

"Please, calm down." Mrs. Pertuz went over toward her husband, placing her hands on his shoulders in an attempt to calm him down. "Please. Your blood pressure."

Mr. Pertuz let out a huff as he tried to adhere by his wife's warning. "You should have told us what you were planning on doing, Gabi. You went off, hired a private detective, and tracked your brother all the way to New York! This is unacceptable!"

"How is it unacceptable?" questioned Gabi, trying to keep her voice even. "You both keep mentioning how you miss the old days, how you wish our family could be together again. I went ahead, and made it happen! Maybe now things can get aired out in the open instead of getting swept under the rug."

"This was not the way!" 

Dante began to feel as if the walls were closing in on him, his own emotions flaring up. "Then what do you want exactly?"

"For you to keep your powers under control!"

"I have! I'm learning to control them, and use them properly!" The young man ignited a flame in his hand, holding it steady. "See? I--"

"Put that out! Put that out!" Mrs. Pertuz yelled. 

Quickly, Dante let it disappear, and looked at his parents, noticing that the sight of his fire had made them go into a panic. "I...I wasn't..."

Mr. Pertuz stood up, going toward Dante, and proceeding to drag Dante off the couch. "How **dare** you produce that fire in **our** home again!"

"I--"

He wouldn't allow another word out of his son. "Because of your flames, we lost our home! **Everything** that we had built and worked hard for since we moved to this country...reduced to **cinders**!" 

"Papi, stop!" Gabi pleaded, having already gotten up, attempting to keep the peace. 

"I'm only thankful I didn't lose your mother and Gabi in the fire!"

Listening to his father say that, particularly excluding Dante from the statement, hurt him more than he ever imagined. A dull ache began to form in his chest, prompting Dante to back away from his dad, who then released him from his grip. "...I should go."

"Yes. You should go." Mr. Pertuz averted his sights from his son, placing his hands at his sides.

Mrs. Pertuz shook her head. "I'm so sorry, Dante..."

Dante didn't look at either of his parents as he made his way out of their home. In his mind, they likely hated him, and wanted nothing to do with him ever again. This, to him, had been the final shot at reconciliation that he had been yearning deep down. Now he felt like an idiot for having tried at all. _Of course_ they continued to resent him for what he had done, he had been naive to believe otherwise. As he walked onto the sidewalk in front of the Pertuz house, Gabi followed him outside, waving at him. "Dante, wait!"

He stopped, looking at her from over his shoulder. "Yeah?"

"I had no idea this was going to happen! I thought... I guess I thought everything would be okay!" 

"It _is_ okay." Dante lied, faking a smile. "I'll go back to the Secret Warriors, and everything will just go back to the way it was. Thanks for trying, sis." 

"Dante..." 

He continued his trek, declining to look back at his sister or the home now unfamiliar to him. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his cellphone. Scrolling through it, he found Kamala's contact information on it. His first instinct was to call her, tell her what happened, then ask if they could meet up somewhere when he got back to New York. Whenever he was close to her, he felt a lot less like a freak. Kamala was comfortable, fun, and nice. Which is why he then declined to reach out to her. She just wouldn't be able to understand what he had been through, plus he didn't want to burden her with his problems. So he was just going to have to go at it alone for the time being.

\---

A long, heavy sigh came from Kamala. When her two companions missed their cue to ask her why she was sighing like that, she decided to repeat the action again. And when they just blissfully continued their walk down the street, she decided to just get their attention by talking. "I _really_ miss Dante!"

"It's only been two days since he went to Illinois, Kamala." Riri said, casually playing a monster collecting game on her phone at the same time. "It's something he had to do. You know that."

"I...I know. It's just, I guess I'm also worried! I hope it went well for him, too." 

"Girl, if you keep stressing out like that, you'll go **nuts**. And I'm not just trying to be cute with the nut puns this time." Doreen warned, also wagging her finger at Kamala. 

Kamala knew she was right. "Yeah, I get it. Though..."

"Though what?"

"I keep thinking about him a lot lately. Like, not in an obsessive, creepy way. But I get these warm, fuzzy feelings inside my stomach. Wait, warm, fuzzy feelings aren't obsessive and creepy, right?"

Doreen grinned, putting her arm around Kamala's shoulder. "No, that's not obsessive and creepy! It means you're in _looove_."

Kamala's cheeks became red as she pondered on the notion of being in love with Dante. "Love, huh? I mean, isn't that a little extreme?"

"You tell me then. How do you think you feel about him?"

"How I feel..." It was embarrassing to her to be put on the spot like this. At the same time, however, she hadn't really stopped to reflect on just how deep her feelings for him were. 

Riri looked up from her game, now more interested in the conversation. "Sometimes it's not easy to put how you feel into words."

Twirling her finger into her hair, Kamala fidgeted as she thought about it aloud. "You're right, and it's really hard for me to explain even to myself. I think I might need to take some drastic measures in order to figure things out better."

"What are you planning to do?" asked Doreen.

"Maybe it's time I ask Dante out on a date. A real date. Just me and him." Slowly, she turned her head towards the other girls, wondering what they had to say about that.

Unsurprisingly, Doreen was ecstatic. As she spoke, she jumped up and down in place. "Wow! **Finally**!" Tippy-Toe also chirped hotly as she tried to hang onto Doreen as she bounced. 

Riri smirked. "A date? Where would you go?"

"I guess...uh...well... Maybe a movie? That's a relatively safe choice." Kamala shrugged, uncertain.

Doreen clasped her hands together as she went over the possibilities in her head. "Ooh! You could try an arcade! Or a romantic restaurant with a candlelit dining room! Or a stroll on the beach! Or--"

Riri cut in on Doreen's rambling before she got _too_ carried away. "Whatever you and Dante are comfortable with should suffice."

Kamala smiled gently as she thought about going out with Dante. It was an exciting prospect, especially since she had never really been on a real one before. A few obstacles she had to deal with included getting her parents' approval for the outing, along with her working up the nerve to even ask him out in the first place. Though she was optimistic that the whole thing would work out. Eyes glittering with hopefulness and excitement, she turned to the others again. "I...think I'll ask him when he gets back!"

"Awesome Acornssssss!" Doreen exclaimed triumphantly. 

"When are _you_ going to ask Rayshaun out?" teased Kamala as she wore a smug expression. 

Doreen's face became red soon after. "What, me? And Rayshaun? Well, that's a bit complicated." 

Kamala began to interrogate Doreen on what she meant by that, to which Doreen expertly dodged each question. Riri watched, bemused, and shaking her head. It had been a long time since she had even broached a topic relating to romance and dating. It was pretty juvenile, she had to admit, but also felt nice to be involved in something a lot of kids her age experienced. So she had no complaints there.

\---

America sat at a table in the corner of the Excelsior Donut Shop, by herself, as she looked through some news articles on her phone. It was a slow day for her in general. Just not much for her to do. Although she had been invited to hang out with Kamala, Doreen, and Riri earlier, she had declined the offer. Sure, she knew she should be socializing more, but she had just begun dipping her toe into that pool, and it was still much too cold and deep for her to brave navigating. Due to this, she decided to take her time with the whole 'getting close to others' thing. Feeling parched, she then reached out for her cup of guava juice, disappointed when she found it was empty. She took a hold of the cup, going toward the front counter to ask for a refill. 

"Hey," a voice called from behind her before she made it up front. "I'll get that for you."

Spinning around, America looked at the young woman, who was a lot taller than she was. She raised her eyebrow as she watched her take the cup, and rush to the juicer to get more for her. "Thanks."

"I've seen you in here a lot." the woman adjusted her glasses as she filled the drink then shutting the machine off. "You and some of your friends."

"Funny, because I can't remember you at all." retorted America dryly.

"I tend to stay in the back. I'm mostly helping my uncle, Karl, out. He's the owner." 

America got a hold of the guava juice as soon as it was placed down on the countertop. "Yeah. I see."

"I'm Trish, by the way."

That was when America noticed the name was scribbled onto Trish's tag. "Oh, right. I'm America. America Chavez."

Trish beamed. "America is such a pretty name. I like it."

Something about the way Trish looked made America's heart skip a beat. What an odd feeling that was. She decided to sip her juice before speaking again. "Thanks. Trish is a cute one, too."

"It's short for Trisha. I kind of prefer Trish, though."

"Me too, so I'll call you that, probably." 

Trish ran her hand through her strawberry blonde hair as the bridge of her nose became red from shyness. "I'd like that. You're so sweet."

Sweet? That wasn't a word she ever heard associated with herself. America tended to be a realist, a loner, a tough gal. Not the type that tended to be regarded like that. It was actually...flattering. "Well, it's...sweet of you to call me 'sweet'." Now she was internally facepalming over how lame that sounded. 

A giggle came from Trish. "Anyway, I'll leave you alone now. If you need anything, just holler, and I'll come help you out."

America stood in the same spot as she watched Trish retreat into the back of the shop. She wanted to call her back, maybe to keep the conversation going. Trish seemed like a nice person, and she did want to get to know her better. Before she could dwell on the topic any further, she received a ping on her phone. It appeared that she and the other Secret Warriors were being summoned for a meeting at the HQ. Time to go then, she thought to herself, glancing at the door that led into the back of Excelsior. Maybe she could talk to Trish next time she stopped by, which was inevitable. The prospect excited her, actually.

\---

"What's with the goofy smile?" Doreen placed her hands behind her back as she made the innocent inquiry towards America.

America made a face, folding her arms stubbornly. "I wasn't." 

"It looked like the sort of goofy face Kamala makes when she talks about Dante!"

"Yeah, it kind of..." Kamala caught herself before she further embarrassed herself. "Wait a second."

"For the last time, I wasn't smiling all goofy!" snapped America.

Riri held back a laugh. "Okay, no need to get upset."

"Aaaand no need to _deny_ either." Doreen then spun America away from the others, whispering into her ear. "Okay, spill it. Who do you have a crush on?"

"Zip it, chica." grumbled America, putting her hand against her forehead.

"Who is she? Where is she? When is she? Okay, that last one didn't sound right. But I **really** want details!"

Gwen then made her way inside Wilson's Auto, finding the group of girls gathered near the elevator that was supposed to descend down to their hide-out. She was still feeling 'out of sorts', but tried to hide it as best as she could. As she neared the others, she waved at them to get their attention. "Hey, how's it going?"

A chorus of greetings came from them, followed by Doreen babbling over America. "I'm trying to crack this nut here! She definitely has a crush on somebody!"

"I'll be the one doing the cracking if you don't shut it." America cracked her knuckles as a show of power.

The door opened, which got the attention of the team. Kamala briefly wondered if it was Dante, having somehow returned early from his trip. To their surprise, it was a lanky fellow they had never seen before. He looked toward the girls, smiling upon eye contact. Coming in closer, he gave them a wave. "Good morning, ladies."

"Who are you?" America asked bluntly. 

"Well, I'm a tourist. And I'm lost. So I was looking around for people to hang out with." 

"...So you chose to come into a garage?" Kamala looked confused as she spoke.

"Sure. Why not? I've heard garages have friendly folks in them." 

America snarled. "Think again."

This made him chuckle nervously. "I'm rarely wrong about things. Besides, you seem like nice people. Even the one who looks like she'll pound me into sand." 

From the moment the dude stepped in, Riri had been wondering why he looked so familiar. She dwelled on it momentarily until she realized where she recognized him from. "Wait a minute. I remember you! You came to speak at Empire Tech, at that engineering seminar."

A smug grin formed on his face after she said that. "Ah, so, you figured me out."

"What was your name again? Adonis? Apollo? Achilles?"

His grin faded when she began to guess at his name. "...Amadeus. Amadeus Cho, in fact."

"Amadeus Cho? I like that name!" Doreen exclaimed.

"Alright, here's a more proper introduction. I'm Amadeus Cho. Freelancer of all things science." 

"Okay, we get it, Mr. Freelancer. What are you really doing here?" America was definitely not impressed by him. 

Just as he was about to answer that, Daisy and Rayshaun came through the door. All eyes in the room were now on them. Clearing her throat a bit, Daisy went towards Amadeus. "Cho, we were looking all over for you. Why did you leave us?"

"I figured out where this shindig was going to take place, and decided to scope it out for myself." The young scientist responded matter-of-factly.

"So, who is this little twerp?" America pointed at Amadeus with her thumb, and he sighed in return.

Rayshaun stepped forward. "This is--"

"Amadeus Cho. Freelancer of all things science." Doreen, Kamala, America, Gwen, and Riri repeated Amadeus' earlier intro unenthusiastically.

Amadeus shrugged, amused. "I'm glad I left a lasting impression on you."

Now it was America's turn to sigh. "What I meant was, why is he here." 

Daisy decided to take the reigns from here. "Let's discuss the details _elsewhere_." She gestured for them to follow her to the secret lift to take them down below.

\---

Once they were all settled in the 'meeting room', aka the rec room with the air hockey table, Daisy decided to give them a rundown of what was happening. She saw that they were all seated, either on the sofa or against the game table. Here goes nothing, Daisy thought to herself. "First of all, I wanted to apologize for being absent for so long. I've been working on a case for SHIELD, of which I've been granted permission to allow the Secret Warriors to participate in now."

"Yeah, we've been wondering where you've been. But I figured maybe you caught the flu or something." Doreen said, rubbing her chin. "Caught whatever it was Lockjaw and Tippy had." Tippy-Toe shuddered as she remembered having been sick recently.

"I wasn't sick, no." Daisy began. "I...was assigned to invesigate criminal activity that is...possibly linked to Hala."

Kamala stood up from the couch. "Hala?!"

"Her **again**?" America grit her teeth.

"Yes, let me explain." Daisy tried to talk, but was soon interrupted by Doreen.

"Why weren't we told? Why did you keep it a secret from us?" 

A commotion began with several people talking at once, the exceptions being the two SHIELD agents, Amadeus, and Gwen. Fed up with the noise, Rayshaun put two of his fingers in his mouth, and blew a whistle to get their attention before they got _too_ rowdy. "Enough! Listen to what Agent Johnson has to say." 

She smiled when Rayshaun nodded at her to go on. "Right. Thank you, partner." After expressing her gratitude, she turned to the others, wearing a serious look on her face. "As I said before, I was assigned to investigate criminal activity linked to Hala. I'm sorry that I had to keep the assignment under wraps, but it was strictly on a 'need-to-know' basis. Rayshaun was also allowed in on the investigation eventually."

Doreen appeared disappointed by that. "Et tu, Rayshaun?" 

"Yeah. Sorry about that." He looked away after replying.

"Amadeus here," Daisy motioned at him hastily before continuing, "was brought on as a consultant and scientist in a very unofficial capacity."

Amadeus pointed at himself. "Yup, that I was."

"However, due to unforeseen circumstances, SHIELD decided to allow the Secret Warriors to take over and continue the investigation. Amadeus will be joining us temporarily." 

America looked sternly at Amadeus then at Daisy. "I wish you were joking."

"I'm not. This assignment is very important, and our goal is to stop Hala's plans."

The teens look amongst each other momentarily before looking back at Daisy. Doreen raised her hand, then asked, "What _are_ her plans exactly?"

"We're still trying to figure that out. Although it does seem like she may be recruiting young Inhumans to assist her again." 

Kamala's eyes fell upon the floor, staring at her shoes as she chewed on what Daisy said. "...We can't let her use Inhuman kids any way she wants."

Daisy put a reassuring hand on Kamala's shoulder. "We won't." 

"First thing's first." Amadeus turned toward Doreen. "We have some partial images of some of Hala's newest Inhuman recruits' faces, and I was told you created a facial recognition program, Doreen. Perhaps, if we perfected your tech, we might be able to find matches that can help us locate these kids."

"Ooh! Sure!" Doreen gave Amadeus a hard pat on the back, nearly knocking him over. "Let's get to work on that then, buddy!"

"Oof!" At least he managed to maintain his balance. 

"Since it seems we're all in agreement here, I guess all that's left is to complete this mission." Daisy appeared pleased with the results of their meet-up. "Secret Warriors, let's get to work!"

"Right!" The rest of the team called out in unison.

\---

The evening began approaching, the first sign of it being the darkening sky. A chill began to develop in the air as the street lamps around the area began to light up one by one. Only the sounds of the developing night could be heard in the vicinity, such as crickets and the occasional police siren in the distance. Kevin and Gert had been staking out Wilson's Auto from across the street the entire day, watching people go in and out of it, including several familiar faces of friends past. Neither of them were sure of how to proceed from there so they decided to remain hidden in the shadows instead.

"Funny how Cho sent us to this precise date because it's the day he joined the team." remarked Kevin.

Gert rolled her eyes. "What a narcissistic jerk..." However, she did remember his sacrifice and it made her want to eat those words.

He looked towards her. "This was before your time. Where were you, anyway?"

"Living in LA. Just dyed my hair purple. Acting holier-than-thou, and joining every club at school that I felt would make some sort of difference in the world. Oh, and I think I might've just switched from vegetarian to pure vegan. Fuzzy on those details." 

Leaning against the wall some more, he gazed up at the stars above. "I can't imagine you with purple hair."

"I was a tryhard back then. Let's just focus on what we're going to do."

"Not sure. I mean, do we just...go up to them, and tell them their future is going to be bleak because the guy they thought was their friend is going to become an evil scumbag?"

"Sounds like an absolutely **failproof** idea to me." Gert replied dryly. 

Kevin's brow knit as he thought it over. "I guess there's other options... Like _stopping_ Dante."

"Are you implying we--"

"That's supposed to be our objective. To stop Dante, and save this dimension from what happened to ours." 

"There's other ways to do that, we can't just--"

He cut her off with some harsh words. "We have to do whatever we need to. Or else, this will have been for **nothing**." 

Gert wasn't sure how to respond to that, feeling conflicted about what the correct course of action was in this situation. On one hand, what Kevin was saying was true. If they failed in preventing Dante from going rogue, then they would be failing in their mission, and there would be no point in their having fled their dimension other than to save their own hides. However, she also wasn't sure if Kevin's way was the right one. What would it take to prevent that possible future from happening here? Would it mean having to _kill_ Dante? If so, didn't that make them the villains of this story, at least in a way?

Kevin got up, pacing away from his companion, and surveying Wilson's Auto from where he stood. He thought about how he hadn't seen the younger version of his alternate self at all that day. Hadn't he been present during the time Amadeus revealed himself to the team? There were memories of such a meeting in his mind, so he knew he had experienced it. Perhaps, he just didn't make it in this dimension? Or was it something else? Maybe he wasn't in the Secret Warriors? There were a lot of questions he wanted answers to. One thing was certain to him, he was going to fulfill his objective, and prevent Dante from rising into power. 

Turning to Gert, he said, "Let's go find somewhere else to stay for the night."

"Yeah, I've slept in alleyways before, and they're only _one_ step below a one star motel."

Shaking his head a bit, he felt a bit at ease that he at least wasn't alone in this. "You prefer a park bench then?"

"Definitely."

\---

Late that night, Gwen found herself seated on the rooftop to Wilson's. She hadn't bothered putting on her Ghost-Spider costume, mostly because she just wanted a short break from her alter-ego. Just one night of pure reflection on everything. A lot had happened to her in the span of a few months. One day, she was just a normal girl in a band, living her life with her equally normal best friend...and then the next, she wasn't normal anymore, then her best friend wasn't normal either, and then he wasn't there at all. Every day, it continued to sink in further that Kevin wasn't around anymore. She missed him so much, especially since they told each other **everything** , and she simply didn't have another friend she felt so close to. Right then, she felt alone in the world. It was why she barely said anything during the meeting earlier. Sometimes it was very difficult for her to care about what was going on around her when she felt such a deep pain within her heart.

The sound of steps upon the roof made her turn to see who was behind her. "Dante?"

"Hey." He murmured, immediately going over to sit next to her. "I'm...back."

"How did it go?"

"Lousy." Dante replied quickly, looking downcast. "My parents want nothing to do with me."

Surprised by that outcome, Gwen shot him a look of concern. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No, not really." He then frowned in her direction, clearly upset. "I guess I should've known better, huh?"

It was difficult for her to come up with any sort of solution. After all, this was quite a delicate situation. There was a long pause between them, mostly due to Gwen thinking about what to say. Eventually, she figured out the perfect response to him. "Do you remember what I said before?"

Dante released a heavy sigh. "Not sure..."

"I had to find a different way forward, and accept that my dad didn't understand everything." 

"Right, yeah. It's still really hard to do that..." 

Her hand ended up on his arm, gently squeezing it after. "I want you to know, I'm here for you. Even if the whole world goes against you, I'll be in your corner."

The kind gesture surprised him, and he smiled at her out of gratitude. "Thank you, Gwen." In return, he placed his hand on hers. "Same goes for you. I'll be here for you, too."

With their hands connected, they also looked deeply into each other's eyes. Her words had touched him in a way no one else's ever had before. Dante could sense a warm feeling developing in his chest, one that was foreign to him but also familiar. There were times he had felt this way about Kamala, mostly in situations where they mutually expressed interest in one and other. In this instance, however, there was something _deeper_ about the way he felt over Gwen. Words couldn't even really describe it. Before he knew it, he found himself putting his arm around her, pulling her in closer to him.

His action also surprised her. There was something very strange about being so close to him. But that something was also very, _very_ nice. Was this what she had been needing? To just...have a warm body to latch onto? It had been a long time since she had someone show her affection like this. Well, aside from her dad, but that was definitely different. Although she didn't expect anything to develop from this, she allowed herself to bask in Dante's warmth if only for one night. 

\---

Darkness.

There was only darkness in the area they had chosen as their hide-out. An old, abandoned warehouse near the docks. Kind of a cliched sort of place for a pack of villains to choose as their base, but they didn't care. It was effective, so it suited them just fine. Most of their time there was being spent planning out their next series of heists, consisting mainly of supply runs. They were lying low for now until they felt all their preparations were completed. Then it would be time for the 'fireworks' to start, so to speak. 

Hala sat on her throne in the center of the room, the chosen location for her followers to come and worship her, and listen to her re-iterate their plans. This pleased her, mostly because it boosted her already inflated ego. But she didn't see herself as being egotistical at all. She was working her way towards what she labeled as a 'noble goal'. A wicked grin formed on her lips as she looked over at the five Inhuman youths she had managed to round up recently. Much better suited to assist her than the previous fools she had met, especially Exile, who ended up being a complete failure who got himself detained already. 

A sudden glow eminating from Hala's chair illuminated the area around them. The Accuser tapped her spear against the floor, getting the attention of her underlings. "I wanted to express the _utmost_ gratitude to you for helping me get one step closer to accomplishing my plans. Soon, humanity will be bowing to me, and your efforts will be rewarded."

The Inhumans, obscured by the shadows, wore greedy smiles as they looked towards each other. Hala was pleased with their reactions, and a wicked grin of her own formed. Yes, soon she would be receiving everything she felt she was entitled to, along with revenge on the humans who dared to oppose her.

\---

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The plot thickens!
> 
> Hala's underling Inhumans are all based on existing 616 ones, of whom will be introduced very soon!
> 
> It should be obvious by now, but the fic is really playing fast and loose with the characters, and I am taking some 'creative liberties' with them. Though I am trying to maintain the core concepts, personalities, and powers of these characters. Hope I am doing a good job with that. 
> 
> Oh, and for the romance aspects of this story, stay tuned. All is...and isn't what it seems. :)


	3. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I definitely took a lot of 'creative liberties' with some of the new characters introduced in this chapter. This was me trying to put my own spin on established characters the way some TV and movie writers do for comics material. I hope I succeeded in making them likable. Oh, that and I wanted to make these characters more teen-like, and maybe deepen some of their relationships with each other.

\---

Another new day had begun, one that Dante was hesitant about facing. He knew, of course, that he would have to eventually. Sitting up on his bed, he then stretched a little before he proceeded to get up and about. When he exited the room he had at Wilson's, he slowly walked down the hallway until he reached the den area. His eyebrow rose when he caught a glimpse of the stranger hanging around on the couch while he stuffed chips into his mouth and quickly typed into his laptop. Dante thought he was still dreaming for a few seconds before he realized he wasn't. Huffing, he took on a defensive stance. "Hey. You."

Amadeus looked up, mouth full of food. "Mmf?"

"Who are you? Tell me or I'll--"

Upon downing the chips, the Korean teen put his hand behind his neck. "You must be Dante, right?"

"And you are?"

"Amadeus Cho." He stood up, approaching Dante to shake hands with him. Though he then realized his hand was caked in chip cheese dust. "I guess a handshake might be out of the question."

"...Yeah." said Dante as he stared at the hand. 

Regardless, Amadeus continued to wear a friendly expression. "I'm a newbie around these parts. I think SHIELD figured I'd do better work if I socialized with people my age."

"Right. What do you...do exactly?"

Rubbing his chin, he replied, "I guess I'm a--"

"Freelancer of all things science!" Doreen interrupted as she wandered back in, carrying several snacks in her arms. 

His face lit up when Amadeus saw her arrive. "Wow, you weren't kidding when you said you were going to raid that snack machine down the street!"

"It's a part of my squirrel-like behavior. I'm good at gathering!"

A bashful smile materialized on Dante's lips over her words. "You certainly are. Mind sharing the wealth?"

Doreen handed him a chocolate roll. "There you go."

As Dante began to munch on his 'breakfast', he observed Amadeus and Doreen as they went over to the laptop to commence their work again. They began to discuss the details involved in updating and upgrading Doreen's facial recognition software amongst themselves, which Dante tuned out for the most part. The lift that led to the underground hide-out activated, and soon lowered Gwen down. Dante turned to see her walk out from it, and he began to feel nervous. Strange. Why was Gwen's presence making him feel so weird? He figured it probably had something to do with how close they had gotten the night before.

"Good, uh, morning!" There was a clear apprehension in his voice.

Gwen smiled demurely, tucking some of her hair behind her ear. "How's it going?"

"Good! Fine! Very good, and very fine!" Dante yammered.

Doreen looked confused by Dante's reaction, while Amadeus appeared bemused by it. 

"Well...I guess same goes for me." Gwen said.

What was going on here? Why was he doing this? Shaking his head, Dante tried to regain his cool. Well, as cool as a hothead like him could get, at any rate. "Is there anything you guys need to fill me in on?"

"Oh, yeah, there is... Hala's back at it, and she has some new Inhuman helpers."

Hearing her name alone filled Dante with bitterness. "Hala." 

Kamala then arrived on the lift, prompting the rest of the team to turn towards her. "Hey, everybody. What's going-- Oh, Dante! You're back!" Her eyes sparkled at the sight of him, and her smile widened considerably.

Seeing her again did make him forget his anger over Hala, his body soon relaxing. "Yeah, I'm back."

Once she was on the ground below, she immediately bounded towards the others, though ended up much closer to Dante. "I wanted to see how things were going here, so I decided to drop by earlier than I usually do." Honestly, she was hoping to see Dante again. Getting her wish granted pleased her.

"Everything's good." lied Dante, feeling rather uncertain about opening up to her about his family woes there. Especially with the others being present.

Since Kamala was growing more familiar with him, she noted that he sounded like he was troubled. However, this wasn't the time or place to ask him about that. "Oh, okay. That's, well, good to hear."

Dante glanced at Kamala then at Gwen. Again, he began to question why he was feeling the way he was currently. Sure, he had a moment with Gwen the night before, and it made him feel good to have someone to lean on in a tough situation. But that didn't mean that he was having... Wait, what was he saying? How could he even entertain the _idea_ he was developing feelings for Gwen? Kamala was the girl that had been on his mind for the last few months, she was the one he had an obvious crush on. So what was going on here? He was already vulnerable due to what had happened with his family, he certainly did not need to add this onto his plate too.

Amadeus cleared his throat. "Sorry, just wanted to make some noise since it was way too quiet in here."

Maybe it was time to shift focus to more important matters, Dante thought to himself. "Trust me, it being quiet around here is pretty rare."

"Tell me about it." Gwen crossed her arms, leaning against the air hockey table. "I was hoping to come here, and just do some normal teen stuff like playing games."

"Which games are you talking about?" asked Kamala, interested.

"Invasive Species...three." She held up three fingers to further emphasize the title.

Dante nodded in approval. "It's out already? I had no idea."

Doreen groaned. "That game is way too scary! Count me out!"

"That's okay," Kamala smiled. "I'll fire up some popcorn in the microwave, and you set the game up, Gwen. Whoever wants to join in, feel free." She eyed Dante as she spoke that last part.

"We might have to take a rain check on that, guys." said Amadeus, lifting the phone he had been peering into. "There's a situation."

The others approached Amadeus, looking down at the screen of his cell once they were close enough. A news report on Inhuman thieves terrorizing a local mall was on. It seemed like the facial recognition software wasn't as needed as they thought it was. Doreen was the first to take her eyes off it, and look to the others. "This is a job for the Secret Warriors!"

"Let's suit up!" Kamala followed.

Dante turned to Amadeus. "Are you able to fight with us?"

"Let's just say, I definitely have a few tricks up my sleeve." He replied with a smirk.

"Looking forward to seeing it." Gwen said, wondering what Amadeus meant by that. 

\---

There was quite a stir occuring at the mall. Civilians were running and screaming, panic ensuing. A couple of people were lying on the floor, knocked out from a mysterious ailment that had been inflicted upon them. Some stores' windows were smashed, displays inside were entirely destroyed. All in all, the situation was a huge mess. The police appeared to be uncertain of how to stop the vandals. As the chaos continued around them, the Inhuman villains were busying themselves as they waited for their plan to come to fruition. 

"I'm already getting bored." A bald headed teen girl said dryly as she tinkered on her phone listlessly. 

An Inhuman with emerald colored scaly skin, coated with black spots about, glided in with her small wings until she came to a stop in front of her comrade. " _Everything_ bores you, Elena."

Elena scoffed. "Don't call me by my real name! Call me Yo-Yo. Or Slingshot. Not sure which I prefer yet."

"I kind of like Yo-Yo, personally." she replied, rubbing her chin. "Though, I'm not really into codenames. They seem really cheesy to me."

"Well, I like mine just fine." Another Inhuman stepped into view, an overly pale young man wearing a black outfit and a gas mask. "Fume."

"That just sounds so gross, Daryl." 

He seethed at her words. "I think it's fitting, and don't use **my** real name either, Naja."

Naja shrugged, not getting why these two were so bent on using their codenames. "Fine. Whatever."

A pair of other Inhumans came up to the others, hand in hand. One of them was dainty Chinese girl with long, black hair, and had visible blue markings across her face in elaborant patterns. The other was a dark skinned guy with a white streak in his hair, along with rock ridges along the side of his right cheek. The former smiled at the latter before turning to her fellow Inhumans. "I found the cutest things in the jewelry store!"

Fume frowned. "I don't care about _cute_."

"Look, it's matching keychains that say 'true love' on them!" She held up the aforementioned keychains, both red, and in the shape of hearts. "One for me, one for my sweetie."

"Gag me..." Yo-Yo grimaced.

"We kind of have more important matters to attend to, love birds. I mean, did you guys just go off on a date while we were busy trashing the place?" asked Naja. 

"We did a little bit of trashing, and some dating." The male half of the pairing spoke next. 

"Jaycen and I are great at multi-tasking." The two 'love birds' exchanged glances before she realized she messed up. "Oh, right. Flint. Not Jaycen."

Flint chuckled before patting her shoulder. "It's okay, it's going to take some getting used to these new codenames. Have you decided on one for you, Xiaoyi?"

"I'm not sure... I don't really want a creepy one like Fume's."

"It is **not** creepy!" Fume, well, fumed over that.

Xiaoyi spent a few moments pondering her options. "How about--"

Yo-Yo cut her off then. "Well, well. Looks like the heroes've arrived." Five of the Secret Warriors were now on the scene, standing in front of the five Inhuman foes. This was exactly what they had been waiting for, and no one was more excited about the prospect than Yo-Yo. Naja had been wrong when she said Elena found everything boring. Clearly. A grin formed on her face as she stared back at the heroes. "If it isn't the Baby Avengers."

"More like the Pathetic Avengers." Fume said, his voice deadpan.

Miss Marvel looked confused. "Is that supposed to be an insult?"

"Yeah, I mean, comparing **us** to the Avengers? That's just super cool!" Squirrel Girl exclaimed, trying to contain her excitement.

Flint stepped forward. "I wouldn't drop my guard around us if I were you." That said, he extended his arm towards a display of large rocks that surrounded a decorative pond. His geokinesis allowed him to move the rocks into the air then launching them at each of the Secret Warriors. 

Ghost-Spider managed to quickly jump out of the projectile's way, where it crashed into a store's glass window. Miss Marvel embiggened her hand, managing to catch a rock before it hit her. Inferno fought the earth with his own fires, the intensity of his flames managing to cause the rock to explode into less troublesome debris. Squirrel Girl saw Amadeus as being vulnerable, so she somersaulted over to him, and knocked him (and herself) over before any damage could be done. 

"You didn't have to do that!" Amadeus was miffed by her intervention. 

Squirrel Girl shrugged. "Sorry! I don't know what your powers are, so I thought it was better to be safe than sorry!"

Yo-Yo put her hands on her waist. "You guys don't even know each other's powers? Talk about sloppy."

"Let me show you mine next!" announced Naja as she made a run toward Miss Marvel, having settled on her being her opponent. Before she reached her, she activated her invisibility powers, and disappeared from sight.

Miss Marvel looked around, trying to remain vigilant. "Where did she--"

Naja punched Miss Marvel across the face, managing to knock her to the ground. Once that was done, she re-appeared. "That's just one of them. Want to see more?"

"Miss Marvel!" Inferno was about to go defend her until Fume blocked him.

"Come at me, Napalm." 

Inferno leaped back, proceeding to aim a blast of fire towards Fume. "That's Inferno to **you**!"

Visible clouds of gases were emitted from Fume's body, of which caused an explosion once Inferno's flames collided with them. Inferno groaned as he was sent flying back towards the wall behind him. Fume was pleased by the results. "Napalm is more fitting now, don't you think?"

Flint managed pick up some of the rocks that hadn't been destroyed before, deciding to fling them around towards Squirrel Girl and Amadeus in succession. "Let's see you dodge this!" 

The pair got up, and managed to do just that, though just barely. Squirrel Girl looked towards Amadeus with concern in her eyes. "Will you be okay?"

"Yeah, don't worry about me. I can totally smash this guy's _pebbles_." 

"If you've got powers, now's the time to show them off!" Squirrel Girl watched as Flint was controlling more rocks to aim at them again.

Amadeus' body began to expand rapidly, some of his clothing also ripping in the process. His skin tone went from a light beige to a bright green as well. To everyone's surprise, he was revealed as having a Hulk-like appearance, and likely also Hulk-like abilities. Unlike Bruce Banner's Hulk, Amadeus appeared to be in control of the beast within him. After he managed to deflect the incoming rocks Flint cast toward him and Squirrel Girl, he turned, and waved. "Not bad, huh?"

When he felt something hard hit the side of his body, he looked around for the source. Yo-Yo had used a discarded metal pole to smack him with, it appeared. "So you're just a Hulk rip-off. Lame."

"I'm not a 'rip-off'. How do you even rip-off a superhero, anyway?" 

"You just are. Sorry, I don't make the rules." Yo-Yo responded with a mock shrug before she ran at high speeds at Amadeus, hitting him with the pole every time, then returning back to the original spot she had been standing at, and repeating these actions over and over so quickly that he was having difficulty keeping up.

Sneering at Squirrel Girl, Flint prepared to attack her. "Squirrel Girl, right? All you can do is sic squirrels at people. That's just sad."

Squirrel Girl looked at him with half-lidded eyes, smugly smiling. "Don't underestimate the power of the squirrel."

To his shock, dozens of squirrels began to appear all around, from trees inside the mall and other spots rodents might squeeze into in a building of that kind. She directed her minions to jump on Flint, and subdue him. He lost his concentration momentarily, dropping the rocks. "Hey! What the--!"

"Warned ya!"

He groaned as he struggled against the squirrels that bit and scratched against him. Once he regained some composure, he tried to bring as many rocks as he could toward his body. Seeing the rocks approaching, the squirrels jumped off Flint. Using his geokinesis, he assembled the rocks in such a way that they created a shell around himself, and thus protected him from things that could pierce his body...including squirrels. "Can your squirrels bypass **this**?"

Rubbing the back of her neck, she suddenly wasn't sure of what to say. "Uh...maybe?"

Ghost-Spider landed in front of Xiaoyi, then circling her as she looked her over. "Why are you doing this?"

"Mm. Well, what do you mean exactly? You want to know why we're trashing this mall?"

"Basically. Yeah."

Xiaoyi appeared as if she was deeply pondering the question for a few moments. "I guess it was to lure you guys out. We wanted to send a message."

"A message?" 

"The message being," she put her hands out, and the blue features on her face began to glow along with her eyes, "that Inhumans are going to be the ones to run the world, quite soon."

Ghost-Spider had no time to react, finding her body feeling much heavier than before. Or maybe the air around her was heavier. Either way, she was weak at the knees, and hunched over. "Uhn..."

"I could increase the reach of my pressure manipulation powers to a wider area, but I don't want to accidentally hurt my allies." explained Xiaoyi. "Hm, now that I think about it. Iso might be an excellent codename for me."

The newly named Iso began to exert more pressure onto Ghost-Spider who was already, effectively, glued to the floor. Fume approached Inferno, maliciously planning to use the toxins he was currently discharging to hurt him further. Meanwhile, Miss Marvel tried to block the barrage of punches and kicks that Naja continued to dish out at her, of which were difficult to detect whenever the green colored Inhuman decided to go invisible. Like her namesake, Yo-Yo rapidly went back and forth as she savagely attacked Amadeus, who was also having trouble detecting his opponent. Despite Squirrel Girl's best efforts, she and her army of squirrels were unable to land any sort of meaningful blows against the fully reinforced Flint, who also tried to retaliate against them by flailing his powerful rock clad arms in their direction.

Fume was now in front of Inferno. "You're an Inhuman, aren't you?"

"You, too! You should be on **our** side!" Naja yelled at Miss Marvel, landing a blow against her abdomen, though it recoiled when her elasticity activated, and made her foot bounce off her.

Miss Marvel moved away from Naja, or tried to. "Isn't it obvious? Hala is using all of you for her own selfish desires!"

"Exactly!" Inferno attempted to hastily retreat from Fume, though he was having difficulty keeping his balance as the toxins from his foe were overpowering his senses. A few steps later, and he toppled over.

"Oh, we know she's probably using us." Fume retorted, placing his foot firmly against Dante's chest to keep him in place. "We're also using her."

"Wh-what..?" asked Inferno weakly. 

Iso released Ghost-Spider from her pressure induced attack briefly, focusing her attention on Inferno and Miss Marvel. "We need her as a unifying force for us, along with her powers and resources."

Flint went next. "If we can gather enough support, maybe we can change things...even if we need to do so by force."

"No, this isn't the way to make things change!" Miss Marvel cried out. "You're not looking for change! You're looking for revenge!"

Yo-Yo paused her barrage against Amadeus to chime in. "Tomayto-tomahto." 

Inferno felt something tug at his chest. Although it was painful to watch these people attacking his friends, especially Gwen and Kamala, he also felt like they were...right. After everything he had been through, including having his own friends and family reject him out of fear and hatred over his abilities, it was difficult for him to believe that people would ever change their minds about Inhumans. He was always going to be ostracized, for things that were out of his control. It hurt so much to come to this realization, but maybe what these Inhumans were proposing wasn't the worst idea...

An icy blast came from the side, which surprised all parties involved. Kevin and Gert leaped into view, both of them decked out in their hero attire, including their masks. The teenagers were in awe, even the villains. There was something about their presence that was just imposing, as if they were actual Avengers. But they couldn't be, given that they weren't recognizable in the way the likes of Iron Man and Captain America were. 

"That was a warning shot." Kevin declared as he stood tall, his gaze steady on the Inhuman foes in front of him. "The next one won't miss."

Gert twirled her gun then aimed towards Fume, who still lingered over Inferno. "I don't do warning shots, kid."

"Who are they..?" Iso looked to her companions, uncertain. 

"Beats me!" Yo-Yo froze, trying to go through her options in her mind. Attack them? Keep attacking the Hulk Wannabe? Retreat? What was the best move here?

Ghost-Spider lifted her head, listening intently to the mysterious hero with the ice powers. Could it be? No, it couldn't be. There were probably dozens of people with ice related powers out there. But even still, that man's voice sounded remarkably similar to the one her dear friend had. Just what was going on?

"What do we do?" Flint asked, trying to keep a threatening stance.

Iso gestured at her group to come behind her. "I'll squish them down good."

"It might be better if I use this guy as a bargaining chip." Fume said as he still had the feeble Inferno close by. "Hey, Frosty, if you and your friend come near us, then I'll release a toxin that'll make his insides **melt**."

Kevin kept a poker face on as he gazed at the enemy. "Does it look like I care about _him_?"

Everyone else present there were stunned by his words, Gert as well. But it seemed to throw the Inhumans off. Iso quickly activated her powers once again, managing to increase the air pressure around Ghost-Spider, Miss Marvel, and Squirrel Girl which brought them down to the ground, and unable to stand. Amadeus was just out of range, though he decided to make a run for Iso in order to tackle her, and force her to halt her assault. However, Kevin formed ice crystals in his palms then rapidly fired them toward Iso, who was unable to keep manipulating the air pressure around the heroes. Gert, in turn, shot some rounds at Fume, who then dodged, and ended up choosing to leave Inferno alone. 

Yo-Yo used her powers to then hit Kevin with the metal pole she had been holding, managing to make him lose his footing. Once she snapped back into place, she hit the pole against her hand. "You're not so tough. It's time we finish them off for good."

"But we're supposed to just warn them, and maybe get the Inhumans to join our ranks!" Iso argued.

"No, it's better if we snuff them out now."

"Hey, wait. Nobody said anything about 'snuffing' anybody!" Flint exclaimed, now standing beside his girlfriend.

"I say we get rid of these pests before they become too troublesome." Fume nodded, allying with Yo-Yo.

Naja glanced at Flint and Iso then at Yo-Yo and Fume, the wariness written all over her face. "I...think..."

Suddenly, Hala's image appeared before them. She used her powers to materialize an illusion that was designed to communicate with her underlings. "Report back to me. Now."

"But Hala!" shouted Yo-Yo.

"We'll work out a plan to get rid of them for good. For now, a strategic retreat is in order." Finished, the false Hala disappeared.

Iso used her powers one more time, managing to target all of the heroes. Although she could have injured them far worse than she did, she merely only pushed them to the ground to ensure their escape. "We'll meet again soon. All of you Inhumans are free to join our cause, if you wish to."

"See ya, losers." Flint mock-saluted them as he ran off.

Yo-Yo looked back at Amadeus, who had been debilitated enough to revert back to his normal human form. "Some Hulk _you_ turned out to be."

Amadeus grit his teeth for a moment before punching the ground, finding her snide comment getting to him. 

Since Ghost-Spider had been especially thrashed by Iso's powers, Kevin immediately went over to her once he regained his composure. "Gwen! Gwen!"

Ghost-Spider looked up at him as he cradled her in his arms. "...You know my name..."

"I, uh, well--"

"Kevin..?"

Resigned to the fact she figured it out so quickly, he removed his mask to reveal his face. "Yeah, it's me."

Her breath hitched as she stared at Kevin, though she also recognized that he appeared much older than the boy she once knew. "I can't...I can't believe it."

The others were then alerted to what was happening while they were recovering from their injuries. Miss Marvel went over to Inferno, attempting to help him up. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah," said Inferno as he placed a hand on his aching chest. "Worse for the wear, but not dead at least." Though the events of what happened earlier continued to weigh on his mind, especially his conflict over whether Inhumans like him could ever be truly accepted.

Squirrel Girl made her way over to Kevin. "So, can you explain what's going on here, rugged and mysterious stranger?"

Kevin gave her a curt nod. "Yeah. Some explanations are in order."

\---

Daisy, Rayshaun, Riri, and America converged with the other heroes at their secret base, having been summoned there. Kevin and Gert assured them that they would explain what was going on. And it was probably the right thing to do, to tell them everything. However, the travelers from another dimension weren't sure where to start or how much they should tell them right then. As the Secret Warriors whispered amongst themselves and/or waited impatiently for said explanation, the pair of outsiders debated between themselves.

"I think it might be best to start off by not feeding them too much information about why we're here." Kevin said.

Gert huffed. "Yeah, because keeping the truth from people **always** goes over so well."

He crossed his arms, looking away. "It's going to be too much of a shock for them. They're young, and--"

"Here we go. You know, these were the sort of things adults around me used to tell me **all** the time. It was crap then, it's crap now."

"Gert, give me a break! Do you really think casually telling..." Kevin swallowed hard, feeling it unbearable to even say _his_ name. "...Dante that he's probably going to grow up to become an evil monster is going to go over well? That telling Gwen and the rest of them that they're likely going to...die at the hands of their friend...is the way to go? We'll tell them what they need to know for now, and fill them in on the rest of the information when it becomes relevant."

She thought about his statement, then brought up another topic she had been dwelling on for a while. "You were pretty cold towards Dante back there. No pun intended, I swear."

Groaning, he made a face at her. "Let's focus on the current objective for now. Is that good for you?" 

"Fine." spat Gert, walking back to the waiting young heroes with Kevin in tow.

America got up, having grown restless from sitting around for so long. "So are you going to tell us anything or what?"

Kevin briefly looked at Gert before his eyes settled on the others. "Yes. I'm Kevin. But I think you all know that already."

All of them looked confused by his introduction, though Daisy was the first one to vocalize it. "...Kevin is the name of Gwen's best friend, yes."

"I'm...actually surprised I haven't seen myself amongst you here, but I'm sure that might be for the best." 

Did this 'Other Kevin' not know? It hit Gwen that he likely didn't. She shifted in her seat uncomfortably, wondering if she should break it to him. "Listen, Kevin--"

Kevin cut her off. "Let me explain who I am first, Gwen. Er, who _we_ are." 

Gert went next, "I'm Gertrude Yorkes. My codename is Heroine."

Doreen clasped her hands together. "Ooh, _Heroine_! Love that name!" 

"Suuure. Thanks. The squirrel motif was always...very _you_."

"Well, yeah! I was always told that I'm as cute as a park squirrel by my dad. So it made sense when I received these powers, and basically themed myself after 'em!" She pet Tippy's head as she spoke.

Kevin decided to break up the conversation between the ladies. "My codename is Coldfront."

Gwen bowed her head. "Yeah, you said you liked that one. Then again, 'Winter Wizard' was also in the running."

"...Glad you vetoed that one." 

"So, you're Kevin. You're _really_ him?" asked Rayshaun, wanting to move things along.

"I'm an alternate version of the Kevin from this dimension. Older. Gert and I are from the future of another parallel dimension."

"I had a feeling that was the case." Riri said, giving Kevin a look over. "There's many scientific theories about various universes existing."

"I've also subscribed to the multiverse theory myself." Amadeus added.

"Of course you would, Cho." Gert said offhandedly.

"Ah, I'm guessing you knew my alternate self? Was he as charming as I am?"

Kevin went up to Amadeus. "We won't be answering any questions like that. Not for the time being."

"Well, will you at least tell us why you've come? It must involve our team, doesn't it?" Daisy frowned in Kevin's direction, rather fed up with his secrecy.

"For now, just know that...our future was...eradicated. Destroyed by..." Kevin's voice trailed off, his sights locked onto Dante for a few seconds, which the teen took notice to. "...A vengeful Inhuman. We're here to enure that future doesn't occur in this dimension."

Gert ran her hand through her dark brown hair, sighing. "Think of us as your guardian angels for now. We're just going to protect you guys, and watch over you, and...yeah."

Again, Daisy was dissastisfied with the lack of information. "So you're not going to go into any more detail?"

"When the time is right, we will tell you all the whole story." Kevin stared at Daisy, hoping she would understand. Even back in his original dimension, she was always the sensible, wise one. He always felt like she was the one who would make the tough decisions for the greater good, and had to shoulder a lot of the responsibility when the going got tough. 

Indeed, through the silence, Daisy herself found herself feeling like she could relate to what the man in front of her was feeling. "Fine. We're not going to let our guards down, just so you know."

Kevin looked around at them all, even Gert. This was not going to be easy, and he knew that when the whole truth got out, the situation was going to become even more complicated than it currently was. "Right. Understood."

"Hey, Kevin," began Gwen, looking solemn, "we need to talk."

"Actually, I was hoping you would tell my younger, alternate self about--"

"There is no younger, alternate you!" She shouted through the tears forming in her eyes.

Blinking, he appeared confounded. "What do you mean?"

Gwen started to sob, so Daisy stepped in to continue in her stead. "Kevin, the...version of you that existed in this dimension died a few months ago."

"What?" He asked, dumbfounded. "Died? I...died?"

Kamala spoke next. "Another Inhuman, Sheath, did it."

Kevin remembered that name, and recounted the version of events that he lived through. "Sheath attacked me on the night of our first patrol," Looking at Gwen, he went on, "Ghost-Spider came in, distracting Sheath, and I managed to freeze her into the wall of that warehouse."

Biting her bottom lip, Gwen tried to talk again. "I...guess I...didn't make it in time...on this side..."

"I can't believe I...died..."

"Another _version_ of you died, you mean." Amadeus corrected him.

Rayshaun shook his head. "Not the time for that, dude..." 

The awfulness of the situation began to sink in on Kevin, and he was beginning to feel emotionally overwhelmed by the notion that his alternate self was gone. "I need to go get some fresh air or something."

"Kevin--" Gert reached out to him, yet he recoiled from her touch.

"Not now, Gert!" snapped Kevin as he went over to the elevator, and used it to leave the scene. This left the rest of the group behind, all of them having mixed feelings on the events that just transpired.

\---

It was a small house in the middle of a normal looking suburban neighborhood. Beige colored, with a white picket fence lining the front yard. Quiet for the most part, except for the occasional barking dog or rowdy group of kids riding their bikes. There was a tiny garden in the front, one that was tended to consistently. Kevin stood on the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street. The evening was beginning to settle in, the sky darkening to a dark blue hue mixed with some orange from the sunset. Street lamps suddenly lit up, giving him a better view of the place he used to once call home. From where he stood, he looked at the window, noticing his mother walking around in the house, seemingly cooking herself dinner. He very badly wanted to go up to the door, ring the bell, and see his mom again. In his original dimension, his mother had been one of the civilians to fall victim to Dante's original uprising. Thinking about how she must have suffered before she died made him angry, and he clenched his fist. It wasn't just her, his friends, other heroes, and...Gwen. All of them gone. Because of _him_. Even here, his loved ones ended up losing him or never knowing him at all. There was just so many emotions boiling over inside of him, and he had no idea how to process everything.

"Hey," Gwen's voice made him turn towards her. "I thought, where is the first place Kevin would go to if he was upset, and...here we are."

"You've always known me all too well." Kevin wore a somber expression as he gazed at her. 

Was this man really Kevin? Everything seemed to match up in her mind, yet there was something off about him. Maybe it was how weathered he appeared to the much more innocent eyed Kevin she knew growing up. Or maybe it was how serious he appeared when her old friend used to be the type that laughed, and goofed off. Or maybe it was just how **powerful** he was, given his expertise with his powers compared to when he used them practicing in her garage. Gwen glanced at him, then placed her hand on his back. "I'm guessing your mom didn't make it back in your world?"

"No." Kevin responded, closing his eyes. "Though I can't imagine how it must be like for her to lose...well...me."

"She's been grieving. We all have." said Gwen quietly. 

"I can't believe I died here. Well, a version of me did. Ugh, this is all so confusing."

Gwen looked up at the cloudy sky, watching small flakes of snow begin to descend. "We should get going. It's starting to snow."

Kevin put his hand out, catching a few. "Yeah."

"Remember when we'd build snow forts in front of your house? It was us versus the other kids in the neighborhood."

He smiled as he thought about those old memories. "Yeah. You were quite brutal, Gwen."

"Hey, you were the one who dug out those pits, and tricked kids into falling into them!"

"Okay, we were both monsters." he said with a slight chuckle.

They both looked at each other. It felt like old times, and they both felt comfortable and warm in each other's presence. Though that didn't last long. This wasn't the time for old pleasantries like this. They weren't really sure how to even feel about one and other. After all, she wasn't _really_ his Gwen, and he wasn't _really_ her Kevin. In a way, Gwen and Kevin were just...ghosts. 

"Kevin--"

"I can't tell you anything about what happens to the other you." Kevin knew she was going to ask him about that, and he didn't have the heart to tell her the truth. Especially to this girl who looked exactly like his Gwen did when she was younger.

Gwen removed her hand from him, taking a step away from him. "Thing is, the fact you came here with Gertrude instead of me... It must mean I'm gone, right?"

His silence said it all. Kevin knew that she probably knew 'him' well enough to figure out the truth of the matter. "I can't tell you. Not yet. I'm sorry."

She was disappointed, and frustrated by his answer. What had happened in his dimension, and what was it that was going to happen in hers? However, she wanted to respect and trust him. There had to be a good reason he was keeping all of this under wraps, right? "Let's get going."

"Yes." Turning, he began to walk by her side. He looked one last time at the house the other Kevin used to live in, the one that resembled his own childhood home. Home. Why did everything have to turn out this way?

\---

"Why did you call us away?" Elena demanded to know, stomping her foot as she glared at Hala. "We could've wrecked those goody two shoes once and for all!"

Daryl stepped forward next. "She has a point. We could have rid ourselves of those heroes with little trouble."

Hala was seated at her throne, scanning the room that each of her underlings were standing in. She had a serious air about her that the Inhumans found intimidating, though they tried to imitate it in return. "They will be disposed of eventually. The entire point of this excursion was to give them a taste of what to expect when they face you." 

Naja took a deep breath before she spoke. "There were other Secret Warriors we didn't get to face today, too. We wouldn't want them to get the Avengers involved. Not yet."

"Indeed, you are correct, pet." 

A nervous smile appeared on Naja's face over the 'pet' part. "Our patience should pay off."

Jaycen looked over at Xiaoyi, whose hand was holding his tightly. Both of them appeared to have their doubts about this whole operation, but they were determined to see it through to the end. Even if it meant there would be casualties. This might be the best shot Inhumans had to surviving in this world without being persecuted. He then directed his attention at Hala. "Just tell us what the next move will be."

"That's what I liked to hear." said Hala. "The next phase of our operation will begin very soon, so be prepared."

Once again, they were filled with glee over the idea of their goals being realized. Hala and the Inhuman teenagers found each other to be disposable, only using the other to fulfill their plans. For now, they were definitely going to work together. But questions about the future definitely lingered in all their minds.

\---

Snow continued to fall gently from the now night's sky. Each flake that managed to fall onto Dante ended up melting fairly quickly due to the heat that his body was exuding. He had decided to sit atop Wilson's rooftop that night. Part of him wanted to see if maybe he could seek Gwen's companionship, though he mostly just wanted somewhere he could retreat to, and be alone with his thoughts. And he had many of those. Over and over, he kept thinking about what those other Inhumans had said earlier. They were being destructive, which was wrong. Nevertheless, he couldn't help but wonder if there was any other way? Could people's attitudes towards their kind ever really change? Or were they always going to be feared and hated? A footstep scrapped against the roof, and Dante spun around toward the source in hopes that it was--

"Dante?" Kamala used her stretching abilities to climb onto there, managing to shimmy the rest of the way up. "I saw you were up here, and I wanted to talk."

"Right. We haven't really talked much lately." Dante took a few paces toward Kamala. "How have you been?"

"I should be asking _you_ that. You seem really sullen up here. Can't blame you for that, though! It's been absolutely crazy today."

"Crazy is an understatement." 

They stood silently for a few moments, mostly taking in the chilly atmosphere as a cold breeze wafted by along with an increase in falling snow. A lot weighed on both of their minds. Kamala kept thinking about their fight against the other Inhumans, how she did feel _some_ empathy for their plight. Kamala had faced discrimination as an Inhuman, so she understood how it felt to have people look upon her with disdain or to even outright mock her. At the same time, she felt that they were going about their goals the wrong way, and that there had to be some kind of peaceful resolution that would unite humans and Inhumans together. She also thought about Kevin and Gert, wondering just what happened to them, along with what had happened to _her_ in that dimension. Atop all of that, she continued to wonder just how deep her feelings for Dante were. How should she proceed with him? She looked over at him with curiosity, noting that he was also pondering things deeply.

Dante also had similar thoughts as Kamala over the Inhumans, though he wondered if maybe they did have the right idea. Since his parents kicked him out, he began to feel like getting humans to accept his kind was going to be an impossible task. Sure, those Inhumans were hurting others and using violence, but was that the only way? He also thought about the time traveling duo, something about the way Kevin treated him made him feel worried. Was it just him or did Kevin hate him? Did his alternate self do something to him? He tipped his head to the side, now noticing Kamala looking at him. Being here with her like this, it felt...nice. There was something about Kamala that always gave him a warm feeling in his chest, well, warmer than he usually felt as a pyro. 

"Dante?" asked Kamala, her eyes staring deeply into his.

Dante noticed the way she was gazing at him, and he relaxed. "Yeah?"

Placing her hand on his cheek, she slowly leaned in until her lips touched his. Before this, neither of them had kissed anyone. Although it felt pleasant to kiss her, Dante did think about Gwen, and the strange feelings he was developing for her. It wasn't fair to Kamala to string her along like this before he figured that out, amongst other conflicts he was having within. When he parted from her, he turned around so she wouldn't see his face. 

"What's wrong?" Kamala wondered if he hated the kiss. Did she have bad breath or--

"Kamala, now's not a good time for...that." Dante said before she got too insecure over herself. 

She put her hand against her arm, disappointment beginning to overtake her. "Oh."

"It's not you. Look, things didn't go so great at my parents'..."

Lifting her head, she replied, "I thought--"

He cut her off. "I just need some time to think about things. A lot of things. I don't want to hurt you, and...I'm sorry."

Inhaling sharply, Kamala decided to stand tall and put on a poker face. "I understand." No, she didn't. This was not how she wanted her first kiss to go. She had been hoping it would end with them declaring their love for each other, and plans for their first official date like she had fantasized recently. Unfortunately, reality didn't always work out the way fantasies did.

"Are you going to be okay?"

"I need to go." She went to the edge of the roof, preparing to make her way down. "Ammi's gonna give me an earful if she catches me sneaking in again."

"Do you--"

It was her turn to cut him off. "I'm fine. You should go back inside, it's cold out here." With that, she stretched her leg down to the street below, and carefully descended.

Dante sighed, looking up at the sky one more time before going back into the Secret Warriors' headquarters. Kamala began to walk down the sidewalk, shivering a bit as the weather became colder. Both of them unsure of what was going to happen to them. 

\---


	4. 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a 'filler', or a diversion from the main plot in order to do some character and relationship building. Think of this as a 'Tales of Ba Sing Se' sort of thing, from the Avatar: The Last Airbender cartoon. Each part is dedicated to two specific characters, and their interactions with each other or with others.

\---

Since winter vacation had officially begun on that day, most kids in the Jersey City vicinity were celebrating their time off by sleeping in or playing games or hanging out with their friends. Kamala Khan, on the other hand, was sulking. She decided to eat her breakfast quickly to avoid being questioned by her parents and brother at the table. The last thing she needed was a familial interrogation. After cramming the eggs, paratha, and tea down her throat, she decided to make a bee-line for the Secret Warriors HQ. It was the only place she could think of going. Sure, she ran the risk of bumping into Dante again, but it was a risk she had to take. After much walking and subway taking, she made it there. For a moment, she hesitated going into Wilson's, but she mustered up some courage then boldly went inside.

Once she arrived in the secret bunker below, she took a look around. The place looked uncharacteristically deserted for a change. No one was in sight, including Lockjaw. This made Kamala feel relieved, and also disappointed. She did want to hang out with her friends, even if it also meant seeing Dante there. There were a lot of conflicting feelings brewing inside of the girl, mostly of the negative kind. Why did Dante have to reject her like that, and just what happened with his family exactly? He was keeping secrets from her, and it hurt her not knowing what was going on with him.

Something cold pressed against the side of Kamala's head, prompting her to shriek. "Eek!"

"Oh, didn't mean to freak you out." Amadeus said, pulling the can of soda away from her. "I saw this in an anime, and thought it'd be...endearing."

"Nothing endearing about that." Sighing, she rubbed her eye with her wrist. 

"Everything okay, Kamala?" 

"You know, I never really introduced myself to you..."

Amadeus popped the tab off the can, proceeding to offer it to her. "Agent Johnson wrote me some detailed descriptions of each of the Secret Warriors to get me up to speed."

Accepting the drink, she took a swig of it. "Figures."

"You dodged my original question so I assume you're _not_ okay. Would it be easier if I tried to figure out what the problem is?"

Kamala closed an eye. "...Sure. Take a guess."

"Just one?" He grinned.

"One." She lifted a finger to emphasize that.

"Let's see..." Amadeus walked around her in a circle, scrutinizing her. "Hmm."

"What is it?" asked Kamala, wondering if this was a bad idea.

He put his hands behind his back. "You're experiencing strife involving someone else. Possibly regarding a...disagreement?"

"Okay, that's way too vague. Most of the time, people are going to be upset because of a disagreement with somebody!"

"True, that's why I ventured that guess." Shrugging, Amadeus turned, and walked a few steps before looking back at Kamala. "Does it have something to do with Dante?"

"Dante?" Wow, he was pretty sharp, she thought to herself.

"Yeah, him. I noticed you gazing at him, he was also rather protective of you... Plus, I saw you join him on the roof as I was coming back from the convenience store with my snacks." 

Kamala frowned. "So...you saw us?"

"Not much. I'm guessing something happened after I went inside." 

This made her take the soda, and chug it down quickly, mostly as a ploy to delay responding to him. As soon as she drank it all, she accidentally let out a burp. "Excuse me!"

"You don't need to spill the details. Besides, I can fill in the blanks myself if I feel like it." Amadeus said, finding himself amused by her abrupt belching.

"Please, don't. It wasn't a big deal..." lied the girl, furrowing her brow. "Dante has a lot on his plate, it seems. And he doesn't want to tell me about it. That, and--"

"He rejected you, right?" He glanced at her then.

Lifting her head, she replied, "...Yeah."

Amadeus sighed, then a somber smile formed. "I know what that's like."

"You do?" 

"Yeah." He signalled at her to follow him, which she obliged. When they arrived at the couch, they both sat side-by-side. As he spoke, he rubbed his index finger against his chin. "I sometimes find it difficult to relate to others due to my intellect and personality, and well, people find it difficult to relate to me as well."

"Oh..." Kamala looked at the empty can in her hands, feeling bad for him.

"Even here, I think the other Secret Warriors are already...overwhelmed by me. But I find it very hard to change, and I'm also pretty stubborn."

"No, that's not exactly true."

"Not _exactly_ true?"

"Well, America is pretty annoyed by you. But she tends to be like that with everybody! That aside, we're all glad you're here to help us! We're definitely going to need it! Oh, and you know, it's really sweet that you're trying to talk to me, and find out what's wrong with me."

"I was trying to satisfy my curiosity more than trying to help. It's my inquisitive nature." Amadeus said.

"No," Kamala said as she shook her head. "I think you're actually a nice guy. Also, you're a Hulk. That's pretty awesome."

He chortled a bit, now looking towards her. "Totally awesome."

She smiled, actually feeling a little better. "I kind of want to know more about _how_ you got those powers."

"It's a long, _boring_ story. Trust me on that." 

"I wouldn't mind listening to it. Maybe over some video games?" Kamala then picked up the two controllers that were lying at her feet, waving one at him.

Amadeus graciously accepted it. "Sure. That sounds like fun."

After she set a game up on the console, she settled back into her spot, proceeding to comment on the game that was in it. "Ooh. I like this one."

"Been wanting to play this. Let's get to it." 

They looked at each other briefly before turning back to the game.

\---

What should I do? That was the question Dante kept asking himself over and over again that morning as he sat on a bench outside a local bakery. He had left his room earlier that morning, opting to go out, despite having no idea where to go or what to do. Thus he spent his entire morning in that same spot, his mind running in circles, so to speak. Kamala was at the forefront of things he was dwelling on, particularly the kiss she gave him. Although Dante did enjoy it, and he really liked her, there was still something missing. What that could be, he had no idea. In a way, he felt the same way about Gwen, something felt missing with her as well. But they were people, not _things_ , so he felt bad about acting like they were puzzles with missing pieces meant to fulfill his needs. That's just not the way love worked... Was it? 

As if on cue, Gwen made her way towards him. This sent Dante into a panic. Should he leave? Should he stay? Should he-- "Dante?" Busted, it seemed. 

Dante stood up, waving a little at her. "Hey, Gwen. How's it going?"

"Let's see, what's a good word for how I feel... Confused. Very confused." 

He became concerned at her response, though he had an idea of what may be bothering her. "About the whole...Kevin thing...?"

"Yeah. The 'Kevin thing', definitely." Gwen's fingers moved up and down along the strap of the bag she was carrying, something she did when she was nervous. This was something Dante had observed about her at times. 

Looking around, he noticed the music store he and Gwen had gone to recently. An idea brewed in his head. "Hey, Gwen?"

"Hm?" 

Then he pointed at the store, smiling slightly. "Want to go hang out there? Bet you need another drumstick, right?"

This made her smile in turn. "You bet..."

And so, they went over to the same shop they had been to before. In they went, noting that there were no other customers in sight. Not surprising, given that it was still rather early in the day. A set of drums were off in a corner, Dante noticed. "Look at that. It's the sort of drumset I'd be saving every penny for."

Gwen turned to him. "Pretty cool, huh?" 

"That's an understatement." 

Boldly, Gwen went over to the counter to speak to the owner. "Do you mind if we try out those drums over there?" When the owner cocked an eyebrow, she quickly added, "We're drummers, so we know how to play. Don't worry." Without a word, the man motioned for them to go, and do whatever they wished. Taking some drumsticks from a bin nearby, she bounded back over to her companion.

"Are you sure about this?" asked Dante, surprised. 

"Totally. Go on, I want to hear you play." Gwen practically shoved the drumsticks into his hands. 

Hesitantly, he accepted them, then turned toward the drums. "It's been forever since I--"

"Get in there!" That was when she began pushing him to the designated chair. 

"Okay, okay!" he exclaimed with a chuckle. 

Taking a seat, he looked at the drums in front of him for a moment before his eyes wandered back to Gwen. After she shot him two thumbs-up as a means of encouragement, he felt his face begin to burn. All of his worries suddenly disappeared, replaced with a desire to impress her. Twirling one of the drumsticks, he then set forth to playing. Dante quickly lost himself in the rhythm of the music he was playing, his latent passion for drumming quickly taking over. Every movement he made was precise, from the flicking of his wrists to the swing of his arms. Both Gwen and the shopkeeper listened, and were profoundly impressed by his talent. Since the song he chose wasn't particularly long, Dante finished with a final crash of the cymbal. 

"Wow." uttered Gwen after a pause. 

He looked up at her, panting. "Y-you think so?"

"You really should join the Emm-Jays, my band, as a back-up drummer. Heck, do you happen to play anything else?"

Dante's expression softened, touched by her words. "I don't think I'd want to join a band right now. But thanks. I really appreciate the offer, Gwen."

Although disappointed he rejected her invitation, she didn't let it get her down too much. "Offer's probably gonna be on the table forever."

Forever? Something about the way she said that made him feel flustered. "Sure. I'll, uh, keep that in mind."

Gwen began to feel something stir within her. What could it be, she wondered. The way he looked at her made her chest feel tight, and her cheeks bloom. With everything that had been happening lately, she hadn't really stopped to think about flippant silliness like crushes. In fact, she was never really the type of girl to sit around, and oogle anybody. So feeling any sort of attraction toward someone was a relatively foreign sensation to her. If that's what she was developing towards Dante. Regardless, she tried hard to shake it off. "Hey..."

"What is it?"

"Are you going to be okay? Want me to walk you back to Wilson's?" 

Shaking his head, he replied, "No. I'll probably go sit at the bench, and...think about stuff."

"Are you sure? Maybe it'd be better if you had company at least." Gwen felt her face redden again.

In turn, Dante's face also reddened. "Another time." He handed her the drumsticks. "Buy these. They're pretty good."

Holding the drumsticks close to her chest, she nodded. "Sure."

Then Dante headed towards the exit. As he pushed open the door, he looked back at Gwen momentarily. Again, he asked himself, "What should I do?"

\---

The elevator ride up the tall building had been mostly quiet. For some reason, it was going unbelievably slow as well. Riri stood beside Daisy, both of them feeling awkward and confused over the situation they were in, including _why_ they were there to begin with. Tony Stark himself had summoned them there for an 'urgent matter'. They wondered just what he meant by that, Riri especially worried that it had something to do with her being Iron Heart. Or more like, it **likely** had something to do with that. As soon as the elevator stopped, a bell dinged, and the doors opened for them. Riri peered anxiously at Daisy, which said it all.

"Don't worry." Daisy placed a reassuring hand on Riri's shoulder. "I've got your back no matter what."

"What if he says I'm not allowed to be Iron Heart anymore? Or he tries to sue me? I really admire Mr. Stark, and--"

"Let's cross that bridge if we get to it. For now, just relax. This isn't like you, Riri."

Riri bit her bottom lip. "I...I know."

"Tony's more bark than bite. Trust me on that." 

Now she sighed ever so slightly. "I'll take your word for it."

Hurriedly, they walked through the hallway that led to Tony's penthouse suite. It felt like going through the inside of a castle, there was a majesty to the way the place looked and felt. When they reached the door, Daisy smiled at Riri, who forced a half-smile back. Upon opening the door, Daisy took a step inside, and looked around. "Hello? Agent Johnson of SHIELD."

"And, uh, me. Riri Williams. Of...Empire Tech."

All was suspiciously silent. It put the two heroines on guard immediately. Before they could take further action however, a child ran out from behind the couch, wearing an Iron Man mask and gloves. She screamed loudly as she slid across the floor, and firmly slapped her hand against the wall. "Made it!"

"What the--" Daisy got cut off when Tony finally appeared.

Despite acknowledging Daisy and Riri's appearance, he still went towards the little girl, and picked her up. "Looks like I'm still 'it'!"

"Yay!" she exclaimed as threw her hands up. 

"Alright, Maguna. Go hide again. Make sure you stay away from my and mom's room, okay?"

Nodding, she responded, "Okay!"

Tony set her down, and she ran off quickly. "One... Two... Three...!" He counted quite loudly, and ceased when the girl was out of the room. " _Kids._ Well, actually, you two are basically kids."

Daisy scowled. "I'm not a kid."

"That's right. You just pick up after a bunch of teenagers all the time now, so you're more like a nanny."

His snark was certainly grating on her nerves. "So, why are we here?" 

"I'll get straight to the point, Agent Johnson." Tony went over towards Riri, then pointed at her. "I never gave the okay for a Mini Iron Man."

"Iron Heart." Riri corrected him.

"Don't care."

"Listen, Stark--"

"No, **you** listen, Agent. And you, too, half-pint." His words made Daisy and Riri visibly upset. "You saw that little girl from before, right?"

"Isn't that your daughter?" guessed Riri.

Nodding, Tony confirmed it. "Morgan's her name. I try to keep her out of the public eye. She's eight, so she's real impressionable. When she sees a heroine named Iron Heart, who wears a suit similar to the one her dad has, she's going to pay real close attention to her."

Riri's eyes widened. "What are you...?"

"If something happens to you, it's going to be **my** responsibility...and I'm going to be the one who has to break it to my kid." 

"With all due respect, Mr. Stark," the sharpness in Riri's voice actually gave Tony pause. "I have something to say about that."

"Go on." He folded his arms, waiting for her to speak her piece.

Riri cleared her throat, mostly out of nervousness, then looked straight at the man she considered her idol. "My...former best friend, Natalie, and I grew up watching you, admiring you, and wanting to **be** you. It wasn't just because of how cool you looked...though that was a contributing factor, but because you were a great hero. And it made me want to be a hero, too. I wanted to protect people the way you did. All kids need heroes to look up to. I...don't mind being the sort of hero your daughter wants to look up to."

Tony had listened intently to everything Riri had said, as had Daisy. Before he could say anything in return to her, Morgan returned to the room wearing a frumpy look. "Dad! I'm bored..."

His face softened somewhat as he went over to pick her up. "How about...if you give me five more minutes to talk with these ladies, I'll buy you a double cheeseburger with fries."

This made her change her entire demeanor completely. "Oh, okay!" Morgan glanced at the pair of strangers, suddenly feeling a bit shy. "Hi."

Riri smiled. "Hey."

"By the way, Morgan, you like that new hero called Iron Heart, right?"

"Yeah! She's really cool!" answered Morgan enthusiastically. 

"A lot of girls in your class do, don't they?"

"She's like you, Daddy! So, yeah!" 

Tony glanced at Riri then back at Morgan. "I'd say I'm a _little_ cooler than she is."

Riri scowled at that. "That's subjective."

He set Morgan down on the floor. "Change of plans. Go get your coat. Let's get that double cheeseburger and fries for both of us. I'm pretty famished." Morgan darted towards her room, without another word, too excited to speak. Once she was out of sight, he turned to Daisy and Riri. "I brought you here to get a feel for what you're about, and whether I want Iron Heart associated with me."

"Do you?" Daisy asked before Riri did. 

"I'll be keeping an eye on you, and we'll have another talk later. But if you do anything that I disapprove of, you're done." He said, directing his words right at Riri.

A stern expression formed on Riri's face. "I won't let you down, Mr. Stark."

"You'd better not." Tony took Morgan's hand as soon as she barreled out of her bedroom. "Anyway, time for lunch, Maguna."

Morgan beamed at her dad, then turned to Daisy and Riri. "Are you friends of my dad's?"

"Not yet," Riri said, "but we will be."

This made Morgan's brow furrow, while Tony appeared amused by the comment. 

\---

Walking down the sidewalk, Rayshaun had his hands inside his pockets. Usually, he had many thoughts floating around his mind over various business affairs. On that day, however, he decided to just bask in the uncharacteristic calmness of the streets of New York. The atmosphere was quite nice with people going about their business, very little traffic, even the area appeared more clean and tidy than usual; which was weird for the Big Apple. Turning the corner, he bumped right into Doreen, and she dropped the bag of peanuts she had been snacking on. Tippy-Toe, who was hanging around on her shoulder, chirped angrily at Rayshaun.

"Whoa, Doreen? Are you okay?" Rayshaun looked concerned.

Doreen blushed at the way he was staring at her, though she tried to hide it. "I'm fine! Just dropped my nuts!"

He saw the peanuts strewn around the ground, and groaned. "Sorry about that. I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings. This is what I get for trying to relax for a change..."

"No, no, no! Relaxation is **good** , Rayshaun!" 

"You say that, but it's never been good for me to let my guard down. Things tend to go wrong that way."

Waving her hand, she said, "Nonsense! Everybody needs to chill out every once in a while. Even a guy like you."

His eyebrow quirked at her words. "Guy like me?"

"Well, sometimes, you can be a bit of a...stick in the mud." The corner of Doreen's mouth twitched after she said that. 

Rayshaun let out a deep, heavy sigh. "I guess I am. Can't deny that."

"Listen, why don't we hang out together for a little while?" Doreen proposed with a grin. "We'll go to the snack cart nearby, and I'll get another bag of peanuts, and whatever you want."

"What sort of snacks do those carts sell? I've never been to one before."

Then she gasped very loudly at that, covering her mouth after. "You've... You've never been to a snack cart? Ever??"

Her reaction made him feel flustered, so he tugged at his shirt collar. "No, not really. I never really saw the appeal of them, honestly."

Suddenly, she was behind him, prodding him to move forward as she pushed him with both of her hands. "We need to get going then! You're really missing out!"

"Whoa! Doreen!"

It only took a few minutes for them to get to the snack cart, and she had pushed him there the entire way. Rayshaun gave it a look over, feeling hesitant to try it. The thick scent of greasy food wafted in the air, of which Doreen loved while Rayshaun..did not. However, her bright smile and the eagerness in her eyes prompted him to relent, and he was determined to give it a try. Slowly, he turned toward the vendor. "I'd like...uh..."

"Want to try a pretzel?" Doreen suggested.

"Pretzel, huh? Never had one of these."

This shocked her, though she appeared more irritated this time. "Are. You. Kidding. Me."

"No, I've just never had one of these big ones before. Sure, I've had those bagged mini pretzels before--"

"Your saltiest, most delicious pretzel, please!" Doreen interjected, speaking to the man running the stand.

With a stoic expression on his face the entire time, the vendor ploddingly put a salted pretzel on a dry waxed paper then handed it over to Rayshaun. "Two bucks."

Rayshaun shot him an apprehensive smile as he handed over the money. "Thanks."

"Wait! This was supposed to be my treat!" Doreen exclaimed.

"Nah, it's fine. I've got this. Get what you want."

"...I'll treat you next time, though." She pointed at the cinnamon pretzel on the rack (deciding that to be a better treat than peanuts), which was then given to her when Rayshaun paid for it. 

The pair began to walk away from the cart, strolling along the pathway that led into a local park. Glancing to the side, he observed her devour the pretzel in a squirrel-like fashion. Was that even a feasible way to eat a pretzel? Regardless, he decided to take his first bite. "Mmf. Not bad."

Swallowing what she had in her mouth, she turned to him. "You like it?"

"Yeah, I wouldn't mind getting another one sometime." He took another bite.

"With me, you mean?" 

Rayshaun smiled softly at her. "Yeah. With you."

Crimson colored her cheeks once again, moreso than before. Having him say that made her feel like she was on Cloud 9, at least for a few moments. Tippy-Toe brought her back to reality by yanking on her ear. "Ow! Tippy! What the heck?!" Tippy-Toe merely chittered a response only Doreen could understand. "I was just...uh...well..."

He chuckled. "You two argue like sisters."

"Well, we kind of are," answered Doreen bashfully. "Then again, all squirrels are kind of like family to me."

"I'd say that was weird to basically anybody else. But it's not when it comes to you." 

"It's not, huh?"

"You know, I feel like I can let loose around you. Otherwise, I really do take life way too seriously. I guess it's because I grew up admiring Cap so much, and I wanted to be just like him. And I thought that meant taking everything super seriously. Even coloring in pictures in school was like a mission to me."

Doreen snickered at that. "Coloring can be serious business."

"I guess I just like having a friend who can get me to...come to a snack cart, and try a pretzel." Rayshaun lifted the now half-eaten pretzel.

"I bet you'll be forever grateful to me for that."

Shrugging, he said, "Probably."

Doreen then took a hold of his hand, and he looked at her. "I, uh, just...er..."

"It's...okay. I don't mind." Rayshaun squeezed her hand gently. 

This wasn't what Doreen had expected to happen. She and her crush holding hands? It was difficult for her to contain her glee, and she stifled a laugh. Rayshaun could tell she was excited over the turn of events. Though it did briefly make him question what the extent of her feelings toward him were, and his own. Instead of dweling on these questions for too long, he decided to lead her into continuing their peaceful stroll through the park. 

\---

America wore an uncharacteristically sullen look on her face as she walked through the chilly streets of New York. Everything had become so...complicated lately, in ways that she had no idea how to deal with. Even as a child, she was a go-getter type, someone who just jumped into the fray when it was needed, and got problems solved as soon as possible. But now? With inter-dimensional time travelers who seemed to imply doom for her and her friends, and Inhumans who planned to wage some kind of war against them? How was she supposed to fix _that_?

Nearing Excelsior's, she stopped to look inside the window. It was still early in the morning, so the eatery hadn't opened yet. All dark inside, she noted. If she couldn't go out and do something about her problems, she figured the next best thing was to distract herself. Though, she wondered, why stop here? Was it because of..? No, America stopped herself right there. She could not be thinking about seeing Trish again. Not now, it just wasn't the right time. Things were so messed up at the moment, how could she even think about cute girls and frivolous nonsense like crushes at a time like this? Just as she was about to spin around to leave, she found herself face-to-face with-- "Trish!"

"Good morning!" she greeted with a sweet smile.

"Good, uh, morning." America repeated to the best of her ability, while also sweating bullets.

Trish had a reusable grocery bag slung on her shoulder, full of various food products. "I came from the store with some ingredients my uncle needs for today."

America looked at it. "Nice dolphin." There was a dolphin graphic sewn onto it.

"Thanks. I picked it out from the bunch due to that. I really love dolphins, and dolphin related stuff. I...heh...have a collection of dolphin merch in my room at my apartment." 

Dolphin merch, huh? Duly noted. "I see. That's...weird."

"Really?" Trish looked a bit hurt by that.

"Well, it's weird but in a nice way. It's not **weird** -weird, just _weird_ -weird. You know?" No one in the entire world probably understood what she meant.

...Except Trish seemed to. "Oh, I get it. You're probably right." 

America made a face, feeling bad about almost hurting her like that. "Sorry."

"No, don't apologize, America. I really do understand. It's not every day you meet someone who has a bunch of dolphin stuffed animals on her bed, or dolphin posters on her walls, and...you get the idea. I mean, my entire room isn't only dolphin stuff! That'd definitely fall under **weird** -weird."

"Still, I... Look, I can be pretty...abrasive sometimes. My moms used to warn me not to get too judgy and hotheaded, but old habits die hard. Really hard."

"I don't really remember much about my parents. I stayed with my grandma for most of my life, then I moved in with Uncle Karl when my grandma's health started failing. And the only nuggets of wisdom I got from him were about veganism and baking. Two things I actually grew to love."

A smile appeared on America's lips. "Your uncle's a nice guy. He feeds me and my friends all this great food, so he's good in my book."

Trish liked seeing America smile, and it emboldened her to reach out to her to take a hold of her wrist. "Come on."

"What?" America was flabbergasted by this.

"Let's go somewhere. Just for a bit." Trish explained, grinning.

"What about the stuff for your uncle?" 

"I'll be back soon. I want to show you something." 

Rather than fight it, America decided to go with the flow. After all, she had nothing better to do that day. So she allowed herself to get led through the city by Trish, who seemed pretty giddy by this turn of events. "Where are we going exactly?"

"It's a place I like going to." answered Trish. 

It didn't take long before they arrived at their destination. Trish opened the door to what appeared to be a small housing complex. Putting a finger against her lips, she indicated for America to be quiet as they went up the stairs. Of couse, America obliged, though she was still confused as to why they were there to begin with. After getting past the stairs, Trish opened a door that led into the rooftop of the building. There was a gorgeous view of the city where they stood, almost breathtaking. America had never quite seen the city like this before.

"Wow, this is... Wow." 

Trish smiled. "I found this place one time while making a delivery for my uncle. It's pretty 'wow', right?"

"I'll admit, I've never really seen a view like this before. Not outside pics online or whatever."

"I sometimes like to come here, and just sit. Think about stuff. You know, that sort of thing." 

America folded her arms, though she kept a small smile on her face. "I know the feeling. Whenever I need to get away from the world, I work on my bike."

"Bike? Like...a motorcycle, right?" Trish inquired curiously.

"Yeah. My boss, Wilson, says I treat the thing like my baby. I guess I like the freedom it gives me. Being able to ride it on a nice day, just let the wind hit my face."

Trish placed her hands behind her back, appearing coy. "Mind if I ride with you sometime?"

A slight blush formed on America's cheeks. "Uh, yeah. That'd be fine. I've only ever given rides to Kamala, maybe--"

"Kamala?"

"Friend of mine. From...our bowling team." 

A snort came in response to that answer. "Bowling team, huh? I can't see you bowling."

"...I don't really bowl much on the team. I just like to hang out with my friends, and feel like I have...a purpose." It was rather true. If it hadn't been for the chance encounter that introduced her to the rest of the Secret Warriors, she wouldn't have bothered using her powers to fight any threats, and would opt to being a recluse that fixed cars and motorcycles for a living. 

Trish found it strange that she thought being on a bowling team gave her a purpose, though America said that with such sincerity that she didn't want to question it. "We should probably head back now."

"Oh, yeah. Sure." 

America found herself smiling at Trish again, and this time, she wondered why she felt so happy around her. Was this what it was like to be in love? Could she have feelings for her?

\---

Although snow lined the sidewalks all over the city from the night before, the day was actually quite sunny, and the perfect kind of weather to go out and about even if it was still rather cold. Kevin walked down the street with both of his hands stuffed into the pockets of the jacket he had been given by Daisy (courtesy of SHIELD, of course), while Gert shivered as she tried to keep up behind him. They had been quiet the whole time since they had left Wilson's, both of them keeping to their own thoughts. A lot had happened within the span of a few days, and while they tried to remain strong, they will felt overwhelmed by the gravity of the situation they were currently in. Neither of them felt prepared for what they were assigned to do. So doubt filled their minds, and they questioned everything they had done up until then. 

"...I'll never get used to New York, especially the New York _weather_ " Gert remarked, finally breaking the long silence between them.

Kevin gave her a quick look before focusing on his feet again. "You mentioned being from LA, right? Yeah, I can see why you'd hate it here."

"I mean," she paused to exhale. "I don't **hate** New York. I basically considered it my home after a month of moving here, back when I joined the team. Trust me, if I absolutely hated it, I would've just left, and started my own team in LA."

"Didn't you mention that you were a part of a group back then?"

"Oh, yeah. Our little club of edgy teens who rebelled against our evil parents. That didn't last forever." explained Gert, quite bitterly.

Again, he took a glimpse at Gert then went back to bowing his head. "What happened?"

"Don't want to talk about it." The bitterness was still apparent in her voice.

He decided not to press her on the issue, and went back to brooding as he made his way to no destination in particular. His mind drifted back to Gwen. Just days ago, he had lost his Gwen, and had to endure watching her die in his arms as she lamented the way Dante had betrayed her, and pleaded for him to stop that monster. Thinking about it was painful, causing him to shut his eyes tightly for a moment. But now she was back in his life, in a way. A younger version of the Gwen he knew, wide-eyed and innocent. Kevin couldn't let anything happen to this Gwen. Losing her twice in one lifetime was a thought he didn't want to have. So he knew what he had to do: prevent this Dante from killing her, no matter what he had to do to accomplish that goal.

"Hey, Kevin?" Gert's eyes now lingered on him.

Kevin shivered as he felt a sudden cold envelop him, and he rubbed his arms to alleviate his discomfort. "Yeah?"

"Do you...think..."

"Do I think what?" 

Knitting her brow, it appeared she was thinking carefully on how to word her question. "Do you think...we should've tried harder to save Amadeus and Morgan? Maybe we could've brought them, too..."

That brought him as much pain as the thought of losing Gwen did. Their dimension was so messed up, and they themselves likely had a hand in that. "...There wasn't enough time. I don't think Cho ever intended to come with us. I bet he was going to get all three of us to go if he had the chance."

"That jerk." muttered Gert.

"We need to focus on what we were sent here to do. On the here, and now." Kevin said. Though was he merely reminding Gert of that, or himself?

"Are we really going about this the right way? We're already keeping secrets from them. That never goes over well, in my experience. The truth'll probably come out eventually."

"I know that. But still, for now, we need to plan what we'll do, and how we'll do it."

Gert stopped, which got Kevin to come to a halt as well. "What do you have in mind?"

Kevin frowned. "I don't know yet." That was at least partially a lie, since he did have some ideas as to how to stop Dante.

Although Gert figured that was the case, she didn't intend to point that out. "I'm still not sure why he sent us here. Why would Cho send us here? Why not go further back?"

"Like I said, he probably chose it because this was when he joined the team. I guess it was meaningful to him for that reason."

"He's not really a sentimental kind of dude. There had to be another reason..."

"Gwen's birthday is in two days, and..." His eyes widened when he realized there was something else that had happened on that day.

"What is it?" she raised an eyebrow, wondering what he was thinking about.

"On Gwen's birthday, something happens. I need to tell them about it so they're ready."

"How do we know what happened in your...our past is going to come to pass this time? Us being here probably changed their future, even if only a little." Gert pointed out.

Kevin put a hand on his waist, staring directly at Gert as he spoke. "True, though we have no way of knowing for sure. I'm going to make sure things definitely change here."

Something about the way he said that bothered her. Just how far was he planning to go to do that? Regardless, Gert did agree with his overall statement. "Yeah. We'll do what we can so their future is better."

"Thanks, Gert." Then he reached out to shake her hand, which caught her off guard. "We were never really close back in our original dimension. Actually, I usually felt a little intimidated by you."

"Gee, thanks." she replied dryly.

"But I'm glad you're here. I don't think I could've done this alone. You're helping me a lot more than you probably know."

A small smile formed on Gert's lips. At least they had each other, right? Even if they couldn't save their world, they could save this one as a penance of sorts for their previous failure. She took a firm grip of his hand. "Same to you, Kev. I'm glad you're here. Just remember, we're a team here. Don't go doing anything reckless without telling me."

"I won't, I promise."

\---

"Are we really going to allow ourselves to get strung along by Hala?" asked Elena as she sat atop a crate in the warehouse. "If she asked us to jump off a bridge, would we do that in the name of our mission?"

"For now, yes." Daryl replied, gazing at her as he leaned against the wall. "Hala is going to help us get a lot more done than if we just went around, trashing places and making a scene in the name of helping Inhumans. What we need to do is be patient, and if she oversteps her boundaries, we'll...take care of her."

Xiaoyi appeared worried when he said that. "Would we even stand a chance against Hala?"

"I think so." Jaycen went over, and put his arms around Xiaoyi in order to comfort her. "All of us combined would give her a run for her money." 

"We may need to find out more on her, particularly her Kree physiology. Cover our bases, and all that." Daryl scoffed when he noticed how close Jaycen and Xiaoyi were. A pang of jealousy was felt, mostly because he wished he had a signficant other himself.

Naja stepped forward, getting closer to the others. "For now, we keep working under Hala, and obeying her commands. Agreed?"

"Yeah." Elena responded immediately. 

Daryl nodded. "Definitely."

"Agreed." Jaycen looked at Xiaoyi when he noted her silence. "Hey? You agree, too, don't you?"

Xiaoyi put her hand behind her neck, eyes on the floor, and a frown drawn across her face. "What if..."

"What if what?" snapped Elena, appearing irritated by Xiaoyi's hesitance. 

"Look," began Xiaoyi, looking around at her fellow Inhumans, "I just...don't think hurting other people is the way to go. Hala might make us do it. We even got close to doing that the other day..."

Daryl scowled, which was obvious to them even with his mask on. "Sacrifices have to be made. You knew that going in."

"Yes, but--"

"Do you think **they'd** spare us if the chips were down? No. They would take us down. Like animals." 

To that, Jaycen sighed. "He's right, Xi. I...don't like the idea of people being hurt or worse either..."

"Same here." Naja stated with a nod.

"We just need to get over it. This is a war we're waging, and we're basically soldiers on one end, and they're on the other." 

Closing her eyes, Xiaoyi understood what Jaycen was saying, even though it still troubled her. "I...I get it."

Elena stormed over, glaring at Xiaoyi the whole while. "Don't mess this up for us."

Jaycen pushed Elena away, shielding Xiaoyi from her. "She said she gets it! Back off, Yo-Yo!"

"A lot is riding on this so we don't want your little girlfriend to screw this up! Not just for us specifically, but for **all** Inhumans!"

Xiaoyi clenched her fists, wearing a determined expression as she directed her words at Elena. "I know that. It's why I'm here in the first place. Don't worry, I won't screw anything up! I'll do as I'm told...like a good soldier." Her eyes flickered toward Jaycen over that last part. Before he or any of the others could properly react, she turned on her heel, and walked away to another part of the hide-out.

Immediately after Xiaoyi left the vicinity, the remaining Inhumans stood in silence, mulling over various thoughts. For one, Elena wondered if Xiaoyi could be trusted and whether she really did _get_ the gravity of the situation they were in. Daryl felt a surge of agitation arise, for reasons similar to Elena. However, Daryl took it a step further, and tried to come up with a contingency plan in case Xiaoyi did somehow attempt to sabotage their plans. Despite her own doubts over whether they were doing the right thing, Naja also worried about where Xiaoyi's allegiances laid. Would she really be able to do something like hurt humans if it came to that, she wondered to herself. Then there was Jaycen, Xiaoyi's lover. Conflicting thoughts clouded his own mind, much like the others. From the beginning, he hated the idea of using his powers to cause harm to others, but at the same time, he remembered the way humans saw his kind, how **afraid** and **hateful** they were towards Inhumans. Clenching his fist, he also thought about what Xiaoyi had told him about her own past...

"Hey," Jaycen's voice got them to pay attention to him. "I'm going to go talk to her. Don't worry, everything's going to go according to plan."

"It better." said Elena. 

He chose not to respond to her, opting to instead head towards where he thought Xiaoyi went. Usually when she felt sad, she would retreat to a specific corner in the warehouse, behind some large crates that gave her cover. Sure enough, he saw her as soon as he peeked behind one of the crates. Quietly, he went over to her, sitting beside her. Although he glanced over at her several times, she didn't acknowledge him at all, and wore a blank stare. Due to this, he decided to initiate a conversation to bring her back to reality. "I'm not sure what to say." Well, he wasn't. 

She shut her eyes for a moment before looking over at him. "Is all of this going to be worth it, Jaycen?"

Turning his body toward her, he cupped her cheek. "Yes. I think Inhumans are going to be better off once we get the ball rolling."

"I...hope so." Xiaoyi sighed softly.

Jaycen leaned in, giving her a kiss that lingered for several moments. "It's going to be worth it. I promise."

In return, she kissed him back, both of her hands now holding his face. Since they figured no one was going to come looking for them after the spat they had, the pair decided to take full advantage of their time alone in order to comfort each other with displays of affection. After all, they weren't being soldiers right now, just teens in love.

\---


End file.
